He didn’t do any of these very thoughtful things. He retreated and threw a punch without his weight behind it. Your responses are very considered. Have you been in this three second situation and done just that? That would have been nice. But that isn’t what people do.
The point I made was that if you look at the video, you can see that he does not “beat her as hard as he could have” or even a portion of it. He doesn’t lean into it at all. Sometimes, when you pick a fight with a much larger human being and throw a few punches, a punch will be directed your way.
I’m going to agree with Mr. and Mrs. Rice that this is being blown all out of proportion for the entertainment of the masses. Women, and nobody for that matter, should be beat up, but this isn’t the poster case for it.