Referee's count on Linares started at 7 . . .

It always bothers me when a referee doesn't verbally start a count at 1. I understand that it's become common practice in boxing for a referee to count (non-verbally) in their head at the moment a fighter goes down until he's right in front of the fighter then the first number he says is something like 7.

The referee took the time to instruct Lomachenko to go to a neutral corner, and when a referee does that, in my mind that should delay the start of the count.

When he got in front of Linares the first thing he said was "siete" (7) and Linares was clearly shocked that the count had already reached 7 before he even knew that the count started.

The problem with this type of thing is that a fighter needs the full audible count to gauge how long he has until he has to get up. I mean, what if there's a situation where a fighter goes down from what he thinks is a low blow or a foul and the ref doesn't say anything then all of a sudden he gives a count of 7 or 8, when the fighter may have thought it was a slip. (not in the Linares knockdown but something like that could happen)

The referee should really always start his count (audibly) at 1 so the downed fighter knows how much time he has to recover. Clearly Linares thought he had a full count to recover and he would have been able to get up had he been able to mentally prepare for it with a full count.

If a ref has to shift his attention to instruct the other fighter to go to a neutral corner, that delay should penalize the fighter who scored the knockdown, not the fighter who got knocked down, otherwise every time you score a knockdown you should just stand right over the downed opponent and since the ref is already counting in his head (while he's telling you to go in a neutral corner) you could score a knockout without the ref ever counting out loud at all. Just 10 seconds of him trying to get you to a neutral corner wins you the fight !

This ref counting in your head **** and starting counts at 7 is ridiculous. It was a great fight but I mean Linares was clearly doing the smart thing in taking as long as he could on his knee to recover from a body shot, but the ref not only started the count at 7, but then Linares still even got up at 9 but was wobbly. (and he was wobbily largely because he did not have the full count to ready himself to stand up)

With this trend, you're basically rewarding fighters who score knockdowns for stalling and that's not how it's supposed to work. It's supposed to be 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 not ". . . . . 7, 8, 9" .

I don't know how this became normalized but it's not how referees are supposed to administer a count.

 

OK so then here's my question : lets say a fighter scores a knockdown OK. But he disobeyes the order to go to a netural corner, and just stands directly over the fighter he knocked down. What happens then? The "guy ringside whose job it is to start counting" reaches 10 before the referee can get the fighter to the neutral corner.

What happens then? Is the fighter counted out before the ref even starts counting? (he's still trying to get the fighter to scored the knockdown to go to the neutral corner but he refuses)

 

I agree he should be "penalized", like delaying the start of the count. If the fighter who scored the knock down doesn't immediately go to the neutral corner, it shouldn't make it harder for the guy knocked down to get up (as the resulting late verbal count does), if anything it should give him more time to get up because the guy who scored the knockdown isn't doing what he's supposed to do.

I mean when you're knocked down and out of it, you need the full verbal count ! Having only moments from when you hear the count "starting" to get up when you're hurt is very difficult. Hearing the 1,2,3, ... gives you time to prepare yourself to get up.

 

A 10 count is not always 10 seconds. Tyson hit the canvas vs Buster Douglas with 1:52 left in round 10. Ref said "two" at 1:48, said "nine" with 1:38 left.

There's long counts, and short counts. At the end of the day the referee's call is final. As I stated in the OP, "I understand that it's become common practice in boxing for a referee to count (non-verbally) in their head at the moment a fighter goes down" (that's what the guy at ringside counting is supposed to do, but throughout history referees have not always used that to adjust his count to) however it's unreasonable to start a count verbally as late at 7. It's one thing for the first number you say is "two" or "three" but "seven" is ridiculous. It gives a fighter no time to prepare to get up.

 

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1:37 - "Jack has forgotten the new rule . . . the count does not begin until he gets to a neutral corner"

1:45 - "5 seconds have elapsed before the referee is ready to begin the count"

1:55 - "here at the official count of 4 Gene looks hurt, he is looking at the referee and picks up the numbers"

As you can see Tunney was looking at the referee when his count was at 4 (he was looking at the ref as early as the count of 3) and was waiting until the count reached 9 to give himself as much time as the count allowed. Linares didn't get this opportunity because the first number he heard was 7.

I made it clear in the OP that I understand the process, but I don't have to like it, and it's one thing for the referee to start a count at "two" or "three", it's another to start a count at "seven". And with the ref relying on a ringside counter, I am bringing to your attention an obvious exploit to this system of having no deterrent (or penalty) for a fighter who socred the knockdown to delay going to the neutral corner.

Ask yourself why in 1927 was there a "new rule" that made it so the count does not begin until he gets to a neutral corner? Probably that rule was implemented for the same reason, because without that rule, there is nothing to stop a fighter from not going to the neutral corner and just standing there until the count of 10 by the guy ringside. The downed fighter would just be on his knee waiting for the count and under this system would be counted out before the ref even starts counting ! (all because the fighter who knocked him down didn't do what he was supposed to do and go to a neutral corner, giving the downed fighter less time to know how much time he has . . . that's counter-productive !)