Code of Massachusetts Regulations
523 CMR - STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION (FORMERLY, STATE BOXING COMMISSION)
Title 523 CMR 15.00 - Boxing Contests And Exhibitions
Section 15.10 - Procedure for Counting; Knockdown; Knockout; Technical Draw

(1) When a boxer is knocked down, the referee shall order the opponent to retire to the farthest neutral corner of the ring, by pointing to the corner, and shall immediately begin the count over the unarmed combatant who is down. The referee shall audibly announce the passing of the seconds, accompanying the count with motions of his or her arm, with the downward motion indicating the end of each second.

(2) The timekeeper, by effective signaling, shall give the referee the correct one-second interval for their count. The referee's count is the official count. Once the referee picks up the count from the timekeeper, the timekeeper shall cease counting. No boxer who is knocked down may be allowed to resume competing until the referee has finished counting to eight. The boxer may take the count either on the floor or standing.

(3) If the opponent fails to stay in the farthest corner, the referee shall cease counting until they have returned to their corner and shall then go on with the count from the point at which it was interrupted. If the boxer who is down arises before the count of ten, the referee may step between the unarmed combatants long enough to assure themselves that the unarmed combatant who has just arisen is in condition to continue. If so assured, they shall, without loss of time, order both unarmed combatants to go on with the contest or exhibition. During the intervention by the referee, the striking of a blow by either unarmed combatant may be ruled a foul.

(4) When a boxer is knocked out, the referee shall perform a full ten-second count unless, in the judgment of the referee, the safety of the boxer would be jeopardized by such a count. If the boxer who is knocked down is still down when the referee calls the count of ten, the referee shall wave both arms to indicate that he or she has been knocked out.

(5) If both boxers go down at the same time, the count must be continued as long as one is still down. If both boxers remain down until the count of ten, the contest or exhibition must be stopped and the decision is a technical draw.

(6) If a boxer is down and the referee is in the course of counting at the end of a period of unarmed combat, the bell indicating the end of the period of unarmed combat must not be sounded, but the bell must be sounded as soon as the downed unarmed combatant regains his or her feet.

(7) When a boxer has been knocked down before the normal termination of a period of unarmed combat and the period of unarmed combat terminates before he has arisen from the floor of the ring, the referee's count must be continued. If the boxer who is down fails to arise before the count of ten, they are considered to have lost the contest or exhibition by a knockout in the round containing the period of unarmed combat that was just concluded.

(8) If a legal blow struck in the final seconds of a period of unarmed combat causes a boxer to go down after the bell has sounded, that knockdown must be regarded as having occurred during the period of unarmed combat just ended and the appropriate count must continue.