It’s somewhat of an urban legend that the best way to fight off a shark or a bear is to punch it right in the nose. Fortunately for one Canadian man, this is exactly how he was able to fight off a black bear who rushed him in defense of her cub:

“I sat down on a log and the bear cub poked its head out of the shrub nearby. It was so close I could touch it. It let out a yelp, because I scared the heck out of it,” Nelson told CBC News.

“I knew right away I was in trouble,” he said. “It’s calling for mommy.”

Nelson is a former bear hunter, so he stood up knowing he only had seconds to spare.

“The mother was coming full speed,” he said. “All you could hear was the bush crashing.”

Soon the bear was in front of Nelson and up on hind legs.

“I had no rocks, no sticks,” he said, but he did have a lot of boxing practice.

Nelson tried to swing at the bear but missed, hitting it in the teeth. The bear hit back, scratching Nelson across the chest and face.

“I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed,” Nelson said.

So Nelson swung a second time.

“I had the perfect shot to take. I did an underhand and hit it right in the snout.”

That’s when the bear’s cub let out another squeal and started to move away, Nelson said.

“Now it was the moment of truth. What’s this bear going to do? Is it going to follow its cub or is it going to come after me?”

“[The mother bear] turned around and it was snorting blood. It looked at me, and I thought, ‘Oh no. Here it comes,’” he said.

“But it just turned back around and walked away like nothing ever happened and followed the cub,” Nelson said. “So I really lucked out there.”

source: cbc.ca