Talking points memo: Dan Rafael continuing to disgrace himself

[BigReg]

Dan Rafael has received a lot of criticsm within the boxing community, and with good reason. Personally, I have given the man the benefit of the doubt. However, I can no longer do so. Quite simply put, Rafael has no journalistic integrity, is a disgrace, and he hates the sport. His scoring of fights have been atroucious, his reporting is getting sloppier, and all he does is complain about the sport and continues to call the sanctioning bodies corrupt even when they do nothing wrong. It all came to a head not too long ago.

As we all know, the Judah/Mosley fight was cancelled due to Judah injuring his arm after he fell through a shower door. Well, Rafael reported that Zab lied about the incident and that he injured his arm after punching through a shower door after getting into an argument with his father. Now I thought that story was fishy to begin with, I became more suspicious once I found out Rafael's proof was multiple "unamed sources" who didn't want to be quoted. How convienent. Wouldn't it be great if every alleged journalist could get away with breaking such stories without any sources or quotes. Here's what Zab had to say in response;

"Dan Rafael’s a piece of shit. I know him. He know me. He’s a piece of shit. Fuck him. Tell him I said ‘Keep writing stories. Have a good day.’ ”

As for the multiple inside sources, Judah contends it isn’t possible for inside info about how his camp was or is going to escape the confines of his inner circle.

“There was nobody there. I train in private. Only my team is in there so that’s a lie. Everybody on the outside looking in trying to find out what happened.”

Rafael has yet to respond, what a surprise. Even if Rafael's account of the story is true, he shouldn't have reported it without being able to back up his claims with credible evidence. I used to have much respect for Rafael and now I don't have any. So lets's recap; number 1, Rafael has no journalistic integrity. Number 2, his work is sloppy. And Number 3, he hates the sport.

Radicals like Rafael only serve to undermine the integrity of the sport which is desparately seeking to get back into the mainstream. He does this by spewing his constant hatred of the sanctioning bodies, even when it's unwarranted, continuing to haphazerdly score big fights and, by reporting negative stories about fighters without any solid proof. Rafael is a disgrace, and he needs to start taking his job seriously.

And that's the memo.

[PH|LLA]

this memo crap is really gay

[klion22]

Aren't you the guy who started the, "respected" columnist Dan Rafael thing? And now this? You're weird.

[BigReg]

this memo crap is really gay

If it's so gay then don't respond.

[BigReg]

Aren't you the guy who started the, "respected" columnist Dan Rafael thing? And now this? You're weird.

Things change. Rafeal has become increasingly worse and I had to call him out on it.

[tragicliston]

I'm sorry, I fail to see what the big deal here is.

[Killer_Fish]

So what was the real reason Zab mess up his arm?

[vonBanditos]

Didn't Jin Mosley make this claim independently from Rafael?

[papolamuerte]

And how do you know that Zab is not the one lying in this case???

[BigReg]

And how do you know that Zab is not the one lying in this case???

He very well could be lying. However, Rafael shouldn't be reporting in his column that Zab is a liar without evidence to back that up. That's sloppy journalism, and it could severly damage a fighter's reputation.

[Rico Spadafora]

Zab Judah is a Glass Jawed joke.

[tragicliston]

He very well could be lying. However, Rafael shouldn't be reporting in his column that Zab is a liar without evidence to back that up. That's sloppy journalism, and it could severly damage a fighter's reputation.

Journalists used anonymous sources all the time. If Rafael is lying, Judah can sue him for slander.

[Lampley]

Dan Rafael has received a lot of criticsm within the boxing community, and with good reason. Personally, I have given the man the benefit of the doubt. However, I can no longer do so. Quite simply put, Rafael has no journalistic integrity, is a disgrace, and he hates the sport. His scoring of fights have been atroucious, his reporting is getting sloppier, and all he does is complain about the sport and continues to call the sanctioning bodies corrupt even when they do nothing wrong. It all came to a head not too long ago.

As we all know, the Judah/Mosley fight was cancelled due to Judah injuring his arm after he fell through a shower door. Well, Rafael reported that Zab lied about the incident and that he injured his arm after punching through a shower door after getting into an argument with his father. Now I thought that story was fishy to begin with, I became more suspicious once I found out Rafael's proof was multiple "unamed sources" who didn't want to be quoted. How convienent. Wouldn't it be great if every alleged journalist could get away with breaking such stories without any sources or quotes. Here's what Zab had to say in response;

"Dan Rafael’s a piece of shit. I know him. He know me. He’s a piece of shit. Fuck him. Tell him I said ‘Keep writing stories. Have a good day.’ ”

As for the multiple inside sources, Judah contends it isn’t possible for inside info about how his camp was or is going to escape the confines of his inner circle.

“There was nobody there. I train in private. Only my team is in there so that’s a lie. Everybody on the outside looking in trying to find out what happened.”

Rafael has yet to respond, what a surprise. Even if Rafael's account of the story is true, he shouldn't have reported it without being able to back up his claims with credible evidence. I used to have much respect for Rafael and now I don't have any. So lets's recap; number 1, Rafael has no journalistic integrity. Number 2, his work is sloppy. And Number 3, he hates the sport.

Radicals like Rafael only serve to undermine the integrity of the sport which is desparately seeking to get back into the mainstream. He does this by spewing his constant hatred of the sanctioning bodies, even when it's unwarranted, continuing to haphazerdly score big fights and, by reporting negative stories about fighters without any solid proof. Rafael is a disgrace, and he needs to start taking his job seriously.

And that's the memo.
Rafael is a pretty good journalist who passed muster at USA Today and now ESPN. It's also entirely OK for him use unnamed sources, as this happens in the media all the time. Now, his ESPN bosses can demand the identity of his sources, but that information won't make its way to the public.

He isn't a great judge of talent nor a great scorer, I agree, but those aren't his primary responsibilities. He's a reporter first and foremost, and he consistently gets good info from American sources. (His international stories are very weak, but that's a tough nut to crack.)

He doesn't hate the sport. That's just stupid. How are you going to criticize a guy for being sloppy journalistically and then issue a "talking points memo" doing something far worse? Rafael has a huge collection of old fights and watches everything he can. You don't have to like his reporting, but he's definitely a fan.

Your defense of the alphabets is puzzling. They have damaged the sport beyond repair; it's no accident that they're never discussed on HBO. The more hatred directed at the belts, the better.

[BigReg]

Journalists used anonymous sources all the time. If Rafael is lying, Judah can sue him for slander.

He used anonymous sources who didn't want to be quoted. That's suspicious. And no, he couldn't sue Rafeal for slander. The remarks were in print so it's libel. Anyway, defemation of character suits are almost impossible to win when a public figure is involved.

[tragicliston]

He used anonymous sources who didn't want to be quoted. That's suspicious. And no, he couldn't sue Rafeal for slander. The remarks were in print so it's libel. Anyway, defemation of character suits are almost impossible to win when a public figure is involved.

Pardon, libel, my mistake. What's suspicous about it?

[BlueApollo]

Dan Rafael isn't beyond reproach, but this is a silly article to take him to task with. Anyone not born yesterday knows from looking at the released pictures that Zab didn't "fall through a shower door" . Dan Rafael isn't working for the NY Times, and this isn't Valerie Plame he's covering. He's got every right to write a column about Zab Judah based on unnamed sources.

Are we really arguing that he is less credible than Zab? When he pens the article "Cotto Seen Giggling Uncontrollably", I'll quit defending him, but if someone stepped up to him and said "Yoel went off", why should he have to keep his mouth shut?

As for the recent fights he's scored atrociously, I'm assuming we're talking about scoring the Calzaghe fight for Hopkins and the Pacquiao fight for Marquez. You're entitled to your opinion, but neither of those cards make him Doug Tucker.

[kg0208]

Dan Rafael isn't beyond reproach, but this is a silly article to take him to task with. Anyone not born yesterday knows from looking at the released pictures that Zab didn't "fall through a shower door" . Dan Rafael isn't working for the NY Times, and this isn't Valerie Plame he's covering. He's got every right to write a column about Zab Judah based on unnamed sources.

Are we really arguing that he is less credible than Zab? When he pens the article "Cotto Seen Giggling Uncontrollably", I'll quit defending him, but if someone stepped up to him and said "Joel went off", why should he have to keep his mouth shut?

As for the recent fights he's scored atrociously, I'm assuming we're talking about scoring the Calzaghe fight for Hopkins and the Pacquiao fight for Marquez. You're entitled to your opinion, but neither of those cards make him Doug Tucker.

Alot of people scored that fight for Marquez. Nothing wrong with that at all....

[BigReg]

Pardon, libel, my mistake. What's suspicous about it?

He has no quotes, and can't provide much detail, he claims he has multiple inside sources yet Judah says that Rafael's story is bogus and that he had a very private training camp. I'm sorry but that raises suspicion. I would at least like to read a response from Rafael defending his allegation.

[Ramshall1]

As stated, journalists use unnamed sources all the time. If a source says "I dont want to be named" and a journalist names him anyway - thats when he's a bad journalist.

And to put Rafael down for dogging alpha soups is just wrong IMO. . . the more exposed these orgs are the better.

Besides, Who in the hell actually believes Zabs story of how he cut up his arm so badly????

[Shane_Erich]

He used anonymous sources who didn't want to be quoted. That's suspicious. And no, he couldn't sue Rafeal for slander. The remarks were in print so it's libel. Anyway, defemation of character suits are almost impossible to win when a public figure is involved.

Its not suspicious, it happens all teh time in Journalism. This was already reported though by Jin Mosley the day that Zab hurt his arm. Once again you are on your jump to conclusions matt and maybe you should get some real info and not assumptions before you start posting calling someone a liar.

[BigReg]

Its not suspicious, it happens all teh time in Journalism. This was already reported though by Jin Mosley the day that Zab hurt his arm. Once again you are on your jump to conclusions matt and maybe you should get some real info and not assumptions before you start posting calling someone a liar.

When the fuck did Jin Mosley become a journalist? She can't report shit as she isn't a reporter. And when the hell did she start training with Zab? Furthermore, I never called Rafael a liar, I said he didn't use credible sources.

[Shane_Erich]

When the fuck did Jin Mosley become a journalist? She can't report shit as she isn't a reporter. And when the hell did she start training with Zab? Furthermore, I never called Rafael a liar, I said he didn't use credible sources.

Ok, so your just making bad assumptions. How the hell do you know who his sources are and if they are credible or not?

[kg0208]

Its not suspicious, it happens all teh time in Journalism. This was already reported though by Jin Mosley the day that Zab hurt his arm. Once again you are on your jump to conclusions matt and maybe you should get some real info and not assumptions before you start posting calling someone a liar.

I don't think the story becomes suspicious based on his using anonymous sources. If Judah had a private camp, they may not want to be quoted because a specific quote could give them away (only so many people around and specific things may have only been seen by specific people)

Rafael doesn't hate the sport and many many journalists criticize the ABC orgs for the same reason we do here.

[tragicliston]

He has no quotes, and can't provide much detail, he claims he has multiple inside sources yet Judah says that Rafael's story is bogus and that he had a very private training camp. I'm sorry but that raises suspicion. I would at least like to read a response from Rafael defending his allegation.

Just because Judah says it's bogus doesn't make it so. Frankly, I find Rafael a much more credible source on this than Judah. Look, it's possible his sources were lying to him, but I've never seen Rafael use his column as a forum to defame anybody and I doubt he's start now.

[BigReg]

Ok, so your just making bad assumptions. How the hell do you know who his sources are and if they are credible or not?

I don't know who is sources are. I do know that Zab and his father both vehimately deny that Rafael knows what he's talking about. That right there is reason enough to question his story. And he has yet to respond to Zab.

[Ramshall1]

Zab has every reason to lie here, what reason does Rafael have to lie?

[BigReg]

Just because Judah says it's bogus doesn't make it so. Frankly, I find Rafael a much more credible source on this than Judah. Look, it's possible his sources were lying to him, but I've never seen Rafael use his column as a forum to defame anybody and I doubt he's start now.

Really? Rafael is mor credible than the people that were there? You've never seen Rafael use his forum to defame anyone? He's defamed the sanctioning bodes on numerous occasions even when they've done nothing wrong. He's defamed Showtime, Tarver, Marquez, Kessler, and even HBO for not pumping up the overrated Ring belt enough.

[BigReg]

Zab has every reason to lie here, what reason does Rafael have to lie?

I never said he lied. I said he didn't have enough evidence to back up his claim.

[tragicliston]

Really? Rafael is mor credible than the people that were there? You've never seen Rafael use his forum to defame anyone? He's defamed the sanctioning bodes on numerous occasions even when they've done nothing wrong. He's defamed Showtime, Tarver, Marquez, Kessler, and even HBO for not pumping up the overrated Ring belt enough.

No, he has not defamed them-he's given opinions, valid ones, whether you agree with them or not. As for "the people that [sic] were there." Presumably, his sources were people in the camp who didn't want Zab to find out they were blowing his secret.

[Ramshall1]

I never said he lied. I said he didn't have enough evidence to back up his claim.

No, he didnt give you the names of the people that gave him his info.

If he printed their names today ALL of his insider boxing sources would dissapear tomorrow, and rightfully so.

Most journalists have two credible sources before printing an anonymous story. Ive seen nothing in Rafaels career to question his journalistic integrity now. . . Ive seen a whole lot in Zabs career to question anything he says on matters like these.

[rock5330]

Dan and I are personal friends and I'm not going to get into your tirade with the exception of one statement you made that "he hates the sport". Dan is a sick junkie getting fight tapes from all over the world. He is completely obssessed with boxing. I'm not here to judge his talents, obviously his employer is happy with them seeing he just renewed a for multi-year deal but to say he is a hater is just wrong.

[BlueApollo]

Really? Rafael is mor credible than the people that were there? You've never seen Rafael use his forum to defame anyone? He's defamed the sanctioning bodes on numerous occasions even when they've done nothing wrong. He's defamed Showtime, Tarver, Marquez, Kessler, and even HBO for not pumping up the overrated Ring belt enough.

Dan is as credible as the sources he relies on, just like any other journalist. If he believes someone's word, believes their word merits reporting, and convinces his editors of his opinion, then the story goes out. I'm sitting here laughing at the idea that Zab and Yoel think nobody in their camp or close to them could possibly have caught wind of what actually happened to Zab's arm. Come on now.

You are seriously conflating the concepts of criticism and defamation. If Rafael "defamed" the boxing world as often as you claim, the man wouldn't have a job right now, let alone with ESPN.

[klion22]

Let me just add that i think Rafael is great at scoring fights. I think him and i have scored fights very closely the vast majority of the times the last few years.

[yodaddyboxing]

Didn't Jin Mosley make this claim independently from Rafael?

I think Jin was more a long the lines of "Screw Judah "..he gets to many chances and then does soemthing to delay the fight, weather it be crashing through a shower door or punching a window..he's a hot head, proved in the past and unreliable...

[Addie]

this memo crap is really gay

Dude, if you have nothing constructive to say just don't even bother pushing the reply button. How hard is it for christ sake.

About Rafael, I don't much about the guy but I agree that he shouldn't be making accusations without having suffiecient proof.

[Arriba]

Wasn't it Jin Mosley who ripped Dan to pieces over something he wrote/said about Chico Corrales?

[Brickhaus]

Let me just add that i think Rafael is great at scoring fights. I think him and i have scored fights very closely the vast majority of the times the last few years.

OK, that's just way off :lol:

Rafael is a great reporter (he's one of only two or three boxing reporters who's actually reliable with what he says), but scoring fights is not his forte.