Quote Originally Posted by RandyL
I'm about to start training and sparring, and hope to eventually go in a few local amateur fights. We have to wear headgear, but I don't see how headgear will keep you from getting a broken nose in any way, that part of your face isn't covered.

I'm curious to find out- if you have gotten your nose broken in boxing, is there a reasonable chance of it healing so that it doesn't look abnormal at all? Is it bone or cartilage that gets broken in most cases?

Where I work, 2 of the girls in the office have had broken noses from sports injuries. They have "bumps" about 1/2 way down the tip of their noses in the middle. Their noses are wider there then in the other part of the length of their nose. Not glaringly obvious, but if you look you can see it. I don't want to end up like that from boxing.

I wonder if this is a typical or unusual result of a broken nose that would require surgery to get it back to looking normal again afterwards.
Broken noses, bleeding noses, and busted noses are PART of the sport. When you fight inside the ropes, your signing an invisible contract that your nose will get busted up, temporarily or permanently. It's a hard and rough sport, if it were easy, everybody would be or could be doing it. Some people's noses break easy, some only bust up but never seem to break, and rare others, like Oscar de la Hoya have no traces of being affected at all. Noses weren't made to take punches.

If you don't want any part of that, don't fight. But if you like to learn and love to spar, buy a special headguard that protects the nose, "Winning" company makes them, but at a hefty price of 300 a pop. AC Slater, Mario Lopez keeps his good looks and spars with James Toney and Shane Mosley USING the Winning Headgear to keep his "pretty" looks intact. BUT you have to compete in the Amatuers with no nose protection.

But if you want your nose to be pretty and want to become a boxer.... hang 'em up.