For an hour, a head-guard would probably be smart, although I didn't fight my long fight with one.

There are benefits, as Adam is stating. When I had my fight for one hour, it was exhausting and punishing. I was thoroughly whooped. Before that fight, I'd fought all my fights with a backpedaling stick and move way of fighting, similar to the way Ali would stick and move in the 1960's. I didn't know how to stay in front of a guy, keep my cool, and keep defensive while countering. It was in that fight that I first learned how to effectively cover up and whether the storm. It changed the way I fought forever, and for the better, as well.

It gives you confidence to know that you can go on longer than many people would think to be imaginable. I was never truly confident in my boxing ability until I took that beating.