This may sound foolish or a perfect of example of male chauvinism, but why not just fight and leave the law out of it. If you win, you win. If you lose, you take your beating and move on. It may sound silly but have a little pride, he swings at you swing back and mean it. Don't go into with the idea that you're gonna lose and you can call the cops, you'll lose face. I dunno, its a shitty situation, just carry a sling at all times and SLAY GOLIATH !!!

Might be different for you in the US but over here, Police wont do crap unless its serious, if its just two kids having an argument and a fight breaks out, that shit goes on all the time. Its when it gets out of hand, like other people jumping in creating a full riot, or weapons being used the police will get involved.

If its about a girl, lol be the bigger man there aint a reason to fight, you have already won, its him that feels defeated.

Don't know how old you are, but I thought only adults could invoke charges on people. Maybe wrong there.

Avoid fighting at all costs, if it seems like this guy aint going to back down, make sure you have plenty of credable witnesses (ie noone with a record lol).

If the shit hits the fan, avoid going to the ground, kick him in the nuts, kick him in his shins, or punch him in the solar plexus.

Like I said, you already won, walk away, just don't turn your back.

Not a smart plan, if you really want to fight with this guy put on some boxing gloves and take the fight to a boxing ring. But do NOT go fighting someone in a public place, your odds of getting into trouble are going to be high because from the sound of it you'd be just as much a cause of the fight as he would in the eyes of the cops regardless of who struck first.

DragoonKain: Did you even bother to read the link I posted? :-/

So now the boy has gotten advice from LordsSword and SemperFidelis. Don't do what those guys say. Everyone hates them for a reason.

This is over a girl? Psh, let the dude rage. If he lays a finger on you, call the cops on him.

I think this is the most reasonable solution, after reviewing the material!

Let him rage? Call the police? Are you asking these questions because you're worried that he'll press charges against you or is it really that you want to press charges against him?

Additional Spam:
Okay, took the time to read the entire thread. Forget about the fucking police man. If this woman isn't worth fighting for because this guy's so big (which doesn't necessarily mean you'd lose) forget about her and put that shit behind you. Calling the police or, worse yet, letting him hit you... Just doesn't sit right with me. It'd make you a bigger woman than your woman and what do you really think she'd think about you then?

And dude, I've been in a few fights and seen countless. Only ONCE did I see the police show up. I don't know about your area, but I wouldn't worry about it much. The shit shouldn't take more than two minutes.

Real mature to resort to insults. I've been in fights before. Not an insane amount, but quite a few. Each time punches were landed and nothing happened.

Could someone technically press charges over a mere bruise? Yes. You can press charges for almost anything you want. But it is not going to ever make it to court. It will settle with little penalty if any at all.

If a cop witnesses a fight with a few smallish punches landed then no one is going to jail unless the cop is a real prick. The chances are that he will just break it up and tell them to go home. Unless they are a lot older like late 30's, then it could be different. I'm under the assumption that the topic creator isn't any older than early 20's if that.

If you just walk up to a guy and flat out deck him for no reason then that is a different story. That is assault yes. Is that really what is going on here? When the TC said "fist FIGHT" I assumed he was going to challenge the person to a fight, and not just walk up to a guy and start unloading punches on him for no reason.

Gumpy: no. The only post on the first page I read was the topic creator.

Actually, it's not. Rocketdog, if you're really that worried, a) don't fight and call the police or b) seek real legal advice from an actual lawyer, not an internet forum.

Could you be any dumber?

If the other person attacked you first, then your punch would be self defense. If you go up to someone and just deck him then you assaulted that person.

Anyway, fighting just out of anger or dislike for someone isn't a good idea. The only real legit reason to get into a fight is protection of yourself or someone else. If someone attacks you or your girlfriend/wife/spouse then you have every right to fight back.

Going up and hitting someone for no reason or setting up petty fights accomplishes nothing.

But I guess it depends on where you live. Some areas are much more strict on crime than others. Like in urban areas cops usually have better things to do than arrest people for petty fights. In surburban areas from my personal knowledge is different. It all depends on the severity of the fight, the cops and people involved, among other things.

The crime here is such a joke and a disgrace, fights happen all the time, even when I was in my teens and nothing ever happened to me.

Why is this not a smart plan? Albeit the situation does not seem to have many outs, but at the very least maintain your dignity. In all likelihood, unless he jumps you in some dark alley (which you should avoid), people will be around that will break it up within seconds/minutes. Get in close, so he can't get any real power behind punches, and it will turn into a wrestling match, like 99% of the fights that occur. You can then exchange insults, swear, etc. without looking like a little girl. Using "Im gonna tell." never garnered much respect from anyone.

People who think like that shouldn't be fighting. I'm a trained soldier, I know how easy it is to kill you with my hands. Beating the fuck out of some jackass because he "deserved" it is not smart, in fact it is very stupid and shows a great level of immaturity.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying he shouldn't fight back if he is attacked, but what I am saying is that he needs to be aware that just because you didn't swing the first punch you can be just as responsible for a fight which is illegal and VERY different from self defense. And that egging this guy on in not the wise thing to do.

There are a lot of people here who are saying get the fight over with or that “I’ve been in a bunch of fights and nothing came of it”, and that line of thinking will only get you into trouble if you get caught. This isn’t preschool where “I’m gonna tell” is the line of the weak, this if your life, one wrong punch could end it. Why do you need to prove anything to a pathetic idiot? I don’t need to “prove” that I can beat someone up, beating someone else up only proves how much of a worthless person I am.

Ignore the kid. What would you be proving if you took a swing? I've been in your shoes and it was probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to do, but I laughed it off after a while. I didn't like what my aggression was doing to my girlfriend. That side of me was scaring her. He was provoking me into being a monster, which would have inadvertently caused for me to push my chick away. I eventually decided that she comes first and not some loser who has nothing better to do than to try to wedge himself into the middle of my happy relationship. He needed a new hobby. He eventually backed off when I stopped reacting. I knew deep down that he couldn't hang with my stuff. Weakness becomes fear. Fear becomes anger.

Be in control.