A knockout occurs when an boxer is knocked down by his opponent, falls through the ropes and could not get back into the ring and on his feet by the count of 20, or otherwise is down, and the referee reaches the count of ten before the boxer is back on his feet in the ring. A knockout ends the bout, resulting in a KO win for the boxers opponent. This is to be distinquished from a technical knockout.

Standing eight counts is also referred as protection count. It is the maximum count an umpire can give to a boxer who is back on his feet after supporting a knockdown. This count permits the umpire to judge whether the boxer can carry on fighting or not. Various authorities require that a boxer receive an obligatory "standing eight-count" once being knocked down. Some commission permits to utilize standing eight-count when a boxer takes unnecessary penalty and emerge on the verge of going down but does not really go down. It is also considered same as the knockdown in boxing.