If he had fractured the face of a dude who was 6 inches shorter and 80 pounds lighter, the result may have been the same. then we would be talking about the use of "fighting words" to incite the face fracturing.
I'm not in the "man should never hit woman" crowd, because sometimes it must be done for self defense or to remove harassment. However in this case, a few mean words, a slap and a push from the woman, and walking away is still an option.
Alcohol and youth combine for a poor decision on joe's part.
He could have shoved her down instead of breaking her face. or just walked off and given her the bird.
I got punched in the face by a super drunk girl at the state fair when I was 20 years old. she thought I was her boyfriend - we were similar in appearance. She saw me with my girlfriend and thought it was her boyfriend with another woman. She was about 5'4 and 150 pounds. She clocked me pretty good on my blind side and called me some familiar insults that are NOT PC. I had the presence of mind not to respond, especially since my GF was there to defuse the situation. the drunk girl was arrested by police who witnessed the punch. the cop told me when he was taking my statement (i didn't press charges) that if I would have responded that it would have been me going to jail because of the size difference between us and my obvious ability to inflict bodily harm (I was 7 inches taller and at least 90 pounds heavier).
this may strike some as a double standard but I think it is reasonable to say that the only reason one should punch another is in self defense when fear of injury is present. no way could I say that this girl posed a threat to me. yes my jaw was sore for a day, and I pretty much felt like I should have b!tch slapped her, but I got over it. nobody would have sympathized with me breaking her face.