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Adam
Balogh never boxed himself. In
fact, his sport of choice as a
youth was fencing.
But at some point
he lost interest in fencing,
perhaps because, by his own
admission, he wasn't very
talented.
But he was a big fan of boxing!
“Fencing
became boring and less
spectacular
over the years due to many
technical developments. You
cannot see with normal eyes what
is happening", he explains.
“But
the duel of two gladiators,
boxers, fencing with their fists
fascinated me when I was young.”
So his background in fencing
made him especially admire
“fencing boxers” such as Shane
Mosley, Istvan Kovacs, Sven
Ottke, Zsolt Erdei and Jan
Zaveck.
Kovacs and Erdei are from
Hungary, the country where
Balogh was born in June of 1964.
“I
was born in Tata, a small town
in West Hungary with
a German minority. My
grandfather was at that time the
director of the local hospital,
and chief of surgery."
“We
later moved to Budapest, where I
grew up, but I attended
elementary school in Utrecht in
the Netherlands between 1974 and
1975.”
Grandpa Balogh was also named
Adam, as is his son, WBF-Adam´s
father, Professor Adam Balogh,
who was chief of the surgical
university hospital in Szeged
before retiring ten years ago.
It
was very clearly
no coincidence that the
third
Adam Balogh became a physician.
It would have been something of
a surprise if he
had not:
“Both
my grandfathers, my father, four
of my uncles and seven cousins
either are or were also
surgeons. So I didn't see any
other possible profession for
myself when I was a boy.”
“My
brother, Professor Balasz Balogh
is the director of the Academic
Searching Institute in Budapest,
and the only male member of the
family who chose another
career.”
But what about WBF-Adam´s
mother? Was, or is, she also a
physician?
No, she is a retired teacher,
but...to top everything off...
Adam married a fellow
doctor,
Ilona, with whom he has three
children: Bella (24), Orsi (27),
and,
that's right...ADAM
JR. (30).
That brings the total to FOUR
Adam Balogh´s, and SIXTEEN
physicians!
A graduate of the University of
Budapest,
Balogh
moved to Germany
in 1990,
where he has since been chief
surgeon of
the
district
hospital
in Prignitz.
As
a
member of the American College
of Surgeons, he is also and
active consultant on general,
visceral and endocrine surgery.
He
never lost interest in boxing,
as he did with fencing, and he
always
enjoyed going to big shows as a
fan
to watch, among others, the
aforementioned boxers.
As time went on, he wanted to be
closer to the ring to appreciate
the fights as much as possible,
and what better way than to
combine his job as a doctor with
his passion for boxing.
So in 2003 he applied for, and
was granted, a license to work
as a professional ring physician
with the German boxing
federation.
Seven years later he worked a
WBF World Middleweight title
fight in Tirana between Kreshnik
Qato and Esteban Waldemar Ponce.
While in Albania he had
conversations with WBF President
Howard Goldberg,
who seized the opportunity and
asked
Balogh
to join the WBF as its official
Medical Advisor.
“It
was a great honor for me when
Howard told me he wanted me to
be the WBF Medical Advisor, so
of course I accepted.”
“Within
the WBF I have met many good
people, but especially (Vice
President) Jean-Marcel Nartz
have taught me a lot about the
professional boxing business."
Since taking on the role,
Balogh have worked hard to bring
the World Boxing Federation to
the forefront when it comes to
medical and doping rules:
“The
WBF is the first boxing
organization with specifically
written medical and doping
rules, which all boxers,
trainers, managers, promoters
etc. have free access to on the
internet.”
“All
ringside physicians read our
medical guidelines on the WBF
website, because they are very
clear and easy to understand.”
“Also,
I have standardized the medical
examination, which explains our
doping rules in a simple and
clear way.”
“But
in a rare case of a doping
violation it is my job to advise
the WBF management on how to
handle it, and I hope, and
believe, that all I do is
contributing to the acceptance
and reputation of the WBF.”
There
are no two ways about it, the
contributions of Dr. Adam Balogh
is invaluable to the WBF, and is
without a doubt a major part of
the reason why the WBF continues
to establish itself as one of
the most transparent and serious
sanctioning bodies.
For that, the World Boxing
Federation (WBF) is eternally
grateful.
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