Worst punch-induced boxing injuries

and after the fight...

Wolgast was enjoying the adulation of the fans in San Francisco, and other than a slightly bruised left eye, showed little effect of having fought 40 rounds the previous day. Everywhere he went, the crowds gathered trying to have a look at the new champion. He was asked if he would give Nelson a return bout…

Quote:
"If it looks like a drawing card, why shouldn’t I? I have licked him twice and I can do it again. I am out for the money and if I get it whipping scrappers that are easy for me, I would be a fool not to jump at the chance.

"Nelson will have to wait awhile though and when we do sign articles – providing such a thing happens – he will have to come to my terms. He held me down pretty tight and I think it is my turn to return the compliment.

"So far as our personal difficulties are concerned, they are a thing of the past. I had my revenge yesterday."

- Ad Wolgast


Meanwhile, the beaten man was not looking to good...

Quote:
His face disfigured and discoloured, his cauliflower ear swollen to twice it’s normal size and his body a mass of bruises, the once invincible lightweight presents a pitiable appearance. Veterans of the game who have seen Nelson declare that they never, even in the days when bare knuckles were used in settling ring supremacy saw a fighter so battered up in fistic engagement.
Nelson had a few things to say on his defeat…

Quote:
"While I did not realize it at the time, I can see now that I was not right when I started to train for this battle. In the first few days of training I took off about five pounds. This is not natural for me but I did not worry about it, as I soon took on the weight again when I eased up on my training.

"I am frank also to admit that I underestimated the ability of Wolgast. True, he made a splendid showing against me in Los Angeles, but at that time I was clearly out of condition and I placed no importance on his so-called victory."

- Battling Nelson



Nelson went on to say that after he finishes his upcoming theatre engagement in Chicago, he plans on heading to his New Mexico ranch to relax. He reportedly already has a fight in the works for April against Cyclone Johnny Thompson, and plans to seek a return bout with Wolgast, in which he’ll states that he'll gladly put up a side bet of up to ten thousand dollars.

The Dane added…
Quote:

"In the meantime, I am willing to see him get all the glory he can out of his title. As far as our differences are concerned they are settled."
Despite the graphic nature of his injuries, Nelson was in reasonably good cheer and was reportedly walking about in a "lively manner" and by 9 p.m. had started off for Chicago. Before leaving San Francisco, he made a few jokes over his appearance, adding that he looked worse after losing to Joe Gans years earlier in Goldfield.

Wolgast decided to stick around town a little longer and it was reported he would be boxing exhibitions over the next couple days, before planning to head back east the following week.
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nelson continued to fight (including a rematch loss to wolgast) and in 1917 challenged freddie welsh for the lightweight title. he lost a twelve-round decision and retired from fighting in 1920.
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fast forward to the 1950's...
"MUMBLING INCOHERENTLY, the shriveled little man shuffled into the charity ward of Chicago State Hospital. The doctors looked at him with a mixture of pity and awe. His eyes were blank and his once muscular 133-pound frame had wasted away to a mere 80 pounds. A brash young attendant said callously: "Huh! Another derelict. We're sure getting a lot of them these days." An elderly attendant shot him a cold look. "Do you know who that 'derelict' is?" he snapped angrily. "That 'derelict' is Battling Nelson, one of the greatest fighters who ever lived."
Old Bat, who had licked immortals like Aurelio Herrera, Young Corbett, Jimmy Britt, Terry McGovern and the incomparable Joe Gans, was 71 years old when he was ruled insane and committed in January of 1954. The psychiatrists' diagnosis had been chillingly brief: "Incurable senile dementia." Nobody will ever know what went on in Nelson's tortured mind as he dribbled away his last days amid alien surroundings. Occasionally a flicker of interest would light up his lustreless eyes and he would try to talk. But the words trickled out in a jumble of meaningless phrases. Those familiar with the ex-champion's spectacular career could pick out place names here and there and link them with some of the famous battles that had earned him riches beyond his dreams. Names like Colma... Goldfield... Point Richmond... But what could they make of such mystifying phrases as electric lights... cracks in the floor... sheets of snow... my seven dollar suit...? It was hard to make any sense of this babbling because Nelson, in his wild hallucinations, was conjuring up the broken images of a past less concerned with his great triumphs than with the vivid fragments of memory that often overshadow the important events in a man's life..."
a month later he was dead of lung cancer at age 71. With 68 wins, 19 draws and 19 losses, Bat once said that although he had "lost several fights," he had never been beaten.

Battling Nelson was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.


here he is in a superb high quality photo from his prime in 1911...

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and some good quality footage from his 1910 bout with owen moran..another top champion from the period..

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeeUxuaRlEw[/ame]

 

I would say Johnson vs. Ketchel was pretty brutal.. especailly when you consider how long Stanley was down