I remember reading an article a while back about the old timers on a website called Cox's Corner. In the article Charlie Rose says how fighters back in the 1910's fought as often as 2-3 times a week and could not afford to get busted up. The solution? They dedicated themselves to practice good defense, especially when it came to in-fighting and getting out of clinches which is where most cuts occur.

The manner that they stood is about the same as Grey and Thomas have described in their posts. Their left foot was angled towards the right, and their right foot was angled to their left. They didn't stand square like a lot of guys today. They had a slight bend at their waist, which made their head slope towards their right. This allows the fighter to be able to use their full repertoir of defense in offense. They could then easily slip, roll and counter with impunity.

When it came to in-fighting this stance also protected them from bad cuts. The slight bend at the waist, which makes shoulder rolling achievable, also protected them if they so happened to bump heads. Their head was not turned squarely at their opponent, therefore when they butted heads it would be with the side of their head where cuts don't occur and even if it there was a cut there, it would not be a liability.

They didn't get hit as much as their counterparts of today. Today you have guy's wearing bulky headgear that many fighters depend on for protection. As for defense, many of today's fighters are brought up in a style that ends up in getting them hit more. They stand square to their opponent, have their hands glued to their cheeks. The bulky headgear already makes things harder to see, just compare it to the blinders that some horses wear. All that and the lack of defense is causing fighters to get hit often. I don't care if you're wearing head gear or not, if you keep getting hit then your going to get a concussion everytime you step into the ring.

I think that there should be a different kind of headgear, not a large pillow-like headgear that has "hit me" written all over it, but rather a headgear that simply prevents cuts, broken noses, and protects the ears, without impeding the fighter's vision and abilities. Now this isn't to discount the value of a good defense, as the fighter is not hindered from the head gear, they can keep doing what they do best. If a headgear can fully protect the nose, then even a fighter that has suffered a broken nose won't have to miss out on their sparring.