Long count
Long count or slow count is a term used in
History
There have always been controversial counts in boxing. In 1900, Terry McGovern was reputedly down for up to 20 seconds after being floored by Oscar Gardner; McGovern knocked Gardner out in the next round.[2] In 1915, Bombardier Billy Wells received a long count in his fight with Dick Smith. When Wells was knocked down, referee Tom Dunning, officiating from outside the ring, did not begin the count until he had climbed into the ring, which gave Wells an extra six seconds to recover.[2]
The term is now often associated with
Since then, there have been many other fights which have had a long count controversy. Archie Moore maintained that Rocky Marciano had received extra time to recover when the referee erroneously gave Marciano a standing eight count after being knocked down by Moore in their 1955 fight.[4] In their 1965 rematch, Sonny Liston was knocked down by Muhammad Ali but, in the confusion that followed, Liston was down for more than 10 seconds before getting up and resuming the fight. At Nat Fleischer's prompting, referee Jersey Joe Walcott then stopped the fight 17 seconds after the knockdown.[5] In a 1966 match, referee Billy Conn was accused of giving Carlos Ortíz a long count against Sugar Ramos, which led to a rematch being ordered.[6]
In February 1990, following
Timing
Despite the Marquess of Queensberry Rules stipulating that a fighter has ten seconds to rise from a knockdown,[1] studies of knockouts have shown that a referee's ten count does not typically last ten seconds.[11] When Billy Conn was counted out against Joe Louis, the count lasted 12.4 seconds.[11] Several Mike Tyson opponents were given a ten count which lasted over ten seconds.[11] In Tyson's fight with Douglas, Douglas received a ten count which lasted 14 seconds.[5] Ingemar Johansson was thought to have got a short count after being knocked down by Floyd Patterson in their 1961 rubbermatch, having been counted out despite rising a split second before the referee reached ten. Film footage showed Johansson had actually been down for between 11 and 12 seconds.[12] Ultimately, a referee's ten count is rarely a precise ten seconds; rather, it is simply a human's count to ten and the referee’s count is final.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Marquess of Queensberry rules". Bbhof.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ a b "Memorable Long Counts In Boxing". Boxing Insider. 7 December 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ "The Long Count". Sports Illustrated. 1997-09-22. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
- ^ a b c Gustkey, Earl (1990-02-12). "Long Count Spurs Long Delay". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ "'Long Count' charged in title fight". Deseret News. 1966-10-25. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ "What They Really Meant to Say Was..." Los Angeles Times. 1990-02-14. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ "Lucian Bute, Librado Andrade, Marlon B. Wright and the Incompetent Timekeeper – A Non-Controversy". EastSideBoxing. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ "Bute Defeats Andrade on Long Count". Boxing News 24. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ a b c Florence, Mal (1990-02-13). "A Long History of Long Counts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ "Films show Ingo got long count". The Modesto Bee. 1961-03-15. Retrieved 2011-09-20. [dead link]