It was only the first round of the 2013 fight at Madison Square Garden when emerging Russian heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov took a forearm in the face from his boxing opponent, Mike Perez.

Abdusalamov would brawl on for nine more rounds in the brutal match, in which his face swelled horribly and he took ferocious blows to the head. After losing the fight, he was examined briefly ringside and then by two locker room doctors for only about 15 minutes, before he was cleared to leave without need for neurological follow-up, according to his lawyer and a New York Times report that laid out the fighter’s experience during and after the bout.

Magomed Abdusalamov (Courtesy photo: The Edelsteins Faegenburg & Brown) Magomed Abdusalamov (Courtesy photo: The Edelsteins Faegenburg & Brown)