Standing Eight Count

In boxing, when one boxer is unable to defend themself, but has yet to be knocked to the canvas, the referee will issue a standing eight count to give him/her the opportunity to recover momentarily. However, rarely does the fighter manage to recover enough to take the fight back to their opponent. In fact, usually the standing eight count is just a precursor to the knockout.

(Stick and move, Mac!)

I think I'm on my first or second standing eight these days...

It isn't worth getting into too many details, but I'm getting really tired of trying to defend myself from all angles and not being able to succeed. Something has got to turn around soon, because a few more days of this, and I really will be on my back, getting counted out.