It was a long count, but Douglas knew where he was, he just used the count to his maximum advantage, but he could of got up on the count of six if he wanted to. He even punched the canvas because he was annoyed that he allowed Tyson to catch him, this shows you that his mind is quite sound despite the amazing uppercut Tyson landed. Tyson on the other hand, he was in dream mode when he got caught which is no surprise considering the amount of punches Douglas landed.
I'll bet there are some refs nowadays who would have waved Douglas out when he got up at 9 and a half. Always looked to me like he was thinking about it.
Always thought it a half-hearted effort to get up from Douglas, he got up at 9.5 he must have knew it was quite possible Meyran might have waved it off, if he REALLY REALLY wanted to go on he'd have made sure and got up -"at 8-9 seconds.
Or maybe the punch really stunned him. It was a cracking punch , and imo if Douglas had wanted to get out of it he would have just stayed down. Similar to the holyfield ko. When he got beat by tucker I always felt like Douglas could have some how survived that but mentally gave up. Against tyson he was caught with a solid punch but managed to get up just in time.
Well Douglas tells a different story, "I wasn't hurt, he caught me with a shot and knocked me off balance, I banged the canvas at 3 to show my frustration for getting careless", you can't have it both ways, he was coherent and could have got up sooner if he wanted.
Douglas was the better man that night, Tyson got the same threatment by the referee but he didn't had the same heart that night.
In that case he would have been prepared to get up. U don't bang your glove in frustration then say I'm not getting up.