Unless you were there or have an accurate play by play without bias its impossible to say.
In general, if you don't want to get punched, you shouldn't charge at someone.
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I'm not a lawyer but this is what I found on the internet regarding self defence:
Self-defense permits a person to use not more than the same force which confronts them. So for instance if a person used non-deadly force to confront you, you may use equal force to defend yourself. However, you may not use deadly force to defend yourself when confronted with non-deadly force.
So based on that, I think pushing back is appropriate, but punching in the face is questionable.