On one of the interviews Wilder did pre-fight the ring looked like a bolt, he looked like Frankenstein's monster. Which was maybe prophetic.
It wasn't ear blood it was mind blood oozing out from his ear. When you administer a shellacking of such biblical ferocity like to that to someone you not only break their bones you also break their mind and spirit. Hence the term broken man and that was the same mind fracture from the second fight that reopened not a new one. Why do you think Fury was licking his blood in II? It was vampiric in nature. He was imbibing his very life force from his body on his own soil like a giant 6'9'' gypsy Nosferatu to heap maximum humiliation upon him.
He wears gauges so his ear lobes are even more sensitive. I'm pretty sure it was the lobe bleeding this time.