| Dan Rafael | |
| Birth Date: | 25 August 1970 |
| Birth Place: | Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Education: | Binghamton University |
| Occupation: | Online and television journalist for ESPN.com |
| Credits: | ESPN.com senior boxing writer (2005–2020), USA Today staff writer (2000–2005), Press & Sun-Bulletin staff writer (1996–2000), The Saratogian staff writer (1993–1996) |
Dan Rafael (; born August 25, 1970) is an American sportswriter known for his coverage of boxing and baseball.[1]
Rafael was born in Albany, New York. He attended Binghamton University, where he wrote for the school paper. He started as sports writer, and worked his way to managing editor. He also served an internship at the local newspaper, the Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Rafael later took a part-time job at The Saratogian, a community newspaper published in Saratoga Springs, New York. When a full-time job opened at the newspaper, he took it, then moved to a reporting position at the Press & Sun-Bulletin, covering college sports and local auto-racing. He was later assigned to cover the Binghamton Mets.
Gannett, the owner of the Binghamton newspaper, fostered writers by detailing them to Virginia for four months, thoroughly grounding them in the newspaper business, working at USA Today. Rafael began his course in August 1998. He covered major-league baseball. When baseball season ended, the newspaper's principal boxing reporter, Jon Saraceno, was moving up, so Rafael was asked to cover boxing.
Rafael's temporary duty at USA Today ended in December 1998, and he returned to Binghamton.
In January 2000, he was asked to return to USA Today on a permanent basis as a boxing writer.
In September 2004, ESPN began pursuing Rafael, desiring to strengthen its boxing coverage. He began with ESPN.com in March 2005. He writes in-depth coverage pieces, and his specialty is his weekly compilation of rankings.[2]
In January 2016, ESPN announced Rafael had been signed to a new multi-year agreemet.[3] His contract ended in April 2020. [4]
Dan Rafael tried to omit Ali Raymi name from the ESPN broadcast of the Edgar Berlanga vs. Eric Moon fight, and as a consequence, his long boxing career ended.[5]
Rafael joined World Boxing News (WBN) in May 2021 following discussions with WBN editor Phil Jay.[6] Rafael left WBN in early 2022. He joined Big Fight Weekend, a boxing podcast, in April 2022.[7]