Standing eight count Standing eight count A standing eight count, also known as a protection count, is a boxing judgment call made by a referee during a bout. When invoked, the referee stops the action and counts to eight. Typically, a boxer can take 3 standing eight counts in a round. During that time the referee will determine if the boxer can continue. When the count reaches eight, the referee often moves back two steps and instructs the boxer to walk towards them and hold their arms out. This helps the referee determine if the boxer is functioning and alert enough to continue.
Professional wrestling the referee would begin a count (usually ten seconds, twenty in Japan). If nobody rises to their feet by the end of the count, the match is ruled a draw. Any participant who stands up in time would end the count for everyone else, while in a Last Man Standing match this form of a countout is the only way that the match can end, so the referee would count when one or more wrestlers are down and one wrestler standing up before the 10-count does not stop the count for another wrestler who is still down. In some promotions