[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.
[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.
In 1998, the Association of Boxing Commissions abolished the standing eight count, as it was felt that it gave an unfair advantage to the fighter whom it was issued against.