The mandatory eight count, also called a compulsory eight count, [1] is a rule in boxing and kickboxing requiring the referee to give any fighter a count of eight seconds once they have been knocked down by their opponent, and before the fight is allowed to resume. Even if the fighter gets up before the count reaches eight, the referee is required to count to eight before checking if the fighter is able to continue unless they make a judgement call that the fighter cannot continue. [2] The mandatory eight count is a part of the Unified Rules of Boxing as adopted by the Association of Boxing Commissions. [3]
The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, the base rules of boxing, defined that fighters should be given ten seconds to return to their feet after being knocked down. [4] In 1953, the New York State Athletic Commission introduced the first mandatory eight count for all matches except championship matches. [1] The move was done to protect boxers from unnecessary damage. [1] [5] Ten years later, the mandatory eight count was adopted for all matches in a regulation passed by the New York State Legislature. [6] The mandatory eight count was first used in 1961 in a title fight for the bout between Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson in Florida. [7] Reaction to the new rule from the fighters was positive with Johansson saying "It was good that he had the eight-count" and Patterson said "The eight-count helped me, those extra few seconds gave my head a chance to clear." [8] In 1997, the mandatory eight count was adopted by the World Kickboxing Association for professional kickboxing matches. [9]
The mandatory eight count is different from the standing eight count where referees had the power to pause the fight and start a count if he felt a fighter was in trouble at his discretion even if there was not a knockdown. The mandatory eight count is a requirement for all knockdowns. In 1998, the Association of Boxing Commissions abolished the standing eight count as it was felt that it gave an advantage to the fighter whom it was issued against. [10] However the mandatory eight count was retained and is distinguished from the former standing eight count in the rules of professional boxing. [11]
Boxing is a combat sport and a martial art in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time in a boxing ring.
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, as well as fighting-based video games. A full knockout is considered any legal strike or combination thereof that renders an opponent unable to continue fighting.
Floyd Patterson was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after losing it. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He is recognised as one of the best heavyweights of all time.
The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, also known as Queensbury Rules, are a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. Drafted in London in 1865 and published in 1867, they were named so as the 9th Marquess of Queensberry publicly endorsed the code, although they were written by a Welsh sportsman named John Graham Chambers from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. The code of rules on which modern boxing is based, the Queensberry rules were the first to mandate the use of gloves in boxing.
Full contact karate is any format of karate where competitors spar full-contact and allow a knockout as winning criterion.
Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer was a noted American boxing writer and collector.
Bare-knuckle boxing is a full-contact combat sport based on punching without any form of padding on the hands.
Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson was a Swedish professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1963. He held the world heavyweight title from 1959 to 1960, and was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside the United States. Johansson won the title by defeating Floyd Patterson via third-round stoppage, after flooring him seven times in that round. For this achievement, Johansson was awarded the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year—the only non-American in its entire 27-year first run—and was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
George Curtis was a professional boxer, referee and business owner who was licensed to officiate bouts in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Shoot boxing is both a combat sport and a stand-up fighting promotion company based in Tokyo, Japan. The organization was founded by former kickboxer Caesar Takeshi in 1985.
Reuven "Ruby" Goldstein, the "Jewel of the Ghetto", was an American boxer and prize fight referee. He was a serious World Lightweight Championship contender in the 1920s, and became one of U.S. most trusted and respected boxing referees in the 1950s. During his boxing career, he was trained and managed by Hymie Cantor.
The London Prize Ring Rules were a list of boxing rules promulgated in 1838 and revised in 1853. These rules were based on those drafted by England's Jack Broughton in 1743 and governed the conduct of prizefighting/ bare-knuckle boxing for over 100 years. They "introduced measures that remain in effect for professional boxing to this day, such as outlawing butting, gouging, scratching, kicking, hitting a man while down, holding the ropes, and using resin, stones or hard objects in the hands, and biting." They were later superseded by the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, which were the origin of the modern sport of boxing.
The World Combat League (WCL) was a full contact, team-based kickboxing promotion. It was founded by movie star and martial artist Chuck Norris.
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory authority to guarantee the fighters' safety. Most high-profile bouts obtain the endorsement of a sanctioning body, which awards championship belts, establishes rules, and assigns its own judges and referees.
Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations.
Most rule sets for mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions have evolved since the early days of Vale Tudo. As a result of health, legal, and moral concerns, many different rulesets were created, which give different countries and promotions very different tactics and strategies. Similarly, shoot wrestling organizations, such as Shooto, expanded their rulesets to integrate elements of Vale Tudo into their sport. However, for the most part, fighters accustomed to one rule set can easily acclimate to the others.
Long count or slow count is a term used in boxing. When a boxer is knocked down in a fight, the referee will count over them and the boxer must rise to their feet, unaided, by the count of ten or else deemed to have been knocked out. A long count occurs when a boxer is given more than the allotted time to rise to his or her feet.
Joseph Francis Schilling is an American professional Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator Kickboxing in the Middleweight division, and in the Middleweight division for Bellator MMA. He was released from Bellator in October 2020 after the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations refused to grant him a license to fight.
Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes, billed as The Homecoming, was a professional boxing match contested on February 6, 1993 for the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships. The fight emanated from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison, billed as "Laying It All on the Line", was a professional boxing match contested on October 7, 1995 for the IBC heavyweight championship.