When the contestant is knocked down or as the result of a punch is knocked through the ropes the referee shall order the opponent to retire to a corner of the ring, pointing to the corner, and immediately pick up the count from the timekeeper. He shall audibly announce the passing of the count. No contestant who is knocked down shall be allowed to resume boxing until the referee has finished counting eight. The contestant may take the count either on the floor or standing. The timekeeper, by effective signalling, shall give the referee the correct one-second interval for his count. The referee's count is the official count.

Should the opponent fail to stay in the designated corner the referee shall cease counting until he has returned to it, and then go on with the count from the point from which it was interrupted. If the boxer who is down arises before the count of ten, the referee shall evaluate his or her ability to continue. If assured that the boxer who has just arisen is fit to continue, the referee shall without loss of time, order both boxers to go on with the contest. Should a contestant who is “down” arise before the count of “10” is reached, and go down immediately without being struck, the referee shall resume the count where it was left off.

If the contestant taking the count is still down when the referee calls the count of 10 or if in the opinion of the referee the fighter who was knocked down is in no condition to continue, the referee shall wave both arms to indicate a knockout.

If both boxers go down at the same time, counting shall be continued as long as one of them is still down. If both boxers remain down until the count of 10 the contest shall be stopped and the decision shall be a technical draw. If at the end of a round a boxer is “down” and the referee is in the course of counting, the gong indicating the end of the round will not be sounded except for the final scheduled round. The gong will be sounded only when the referee gives the command “box” indicating the continuation of the match.