by David P. Greisman

Gabriel Rosado feels like his fight with middleweight titleholder Peter Quillin this past Saturday was stopped prematurely, that the cut over his left eye shouldn’t have led a ringside physician to halt the bout less than a minute into the 10th round.

“I feel like boxing is soft nowadays,” Rosado said. “I feel like it needs to go back to the way it was in the ‘80s. This fight never woulda got stopped back in the day. [Arturo] Gatti fought many wars in Atlantic City, got cut, and they let it ride. He was a warrior. You look like a guy like [Jose Luis] Castillo and Chico [Diego Corrales], and those were great fights because they let those guys go.

“The referee and the doctor ruined what could’ve been a great finish,” he said. “They should’ve never stopped this fight. The fight was a competitive fight. It was a close fight going into the last rounds. I was feeling confident going into those rounds, and even though I got cut, I never let it bother me. When the referee stopped it, I thought I was being the aggressor.”

He contrasted the cut he suffered against Quillin with the injuries he had against Gennady Golovkin earlier this year.

“When I fought ‘Triple G,’ I had two cuts over the same eye and it was a worse cut, and the referee let it ride,” Rosado said. “When a fight is competitive, you shouldn’t stop it. You should let it play out and see what happens. They stopped it prematurely. I was begging the referee and the doctor, like, ‘Yo, I worked my whole life for this. At least let me get this last round.’ They ruined what could’ve been a great finish.”

He called for a sequel:

“This fight is worthy of a rematch,” Rosado said, “And I think a rematch would be even better than it was the first time.”

Pick up a copy of David’s new book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com