“I want to go to the last round,” Agustin Quintana said while his cornermen tended to his wound. The referee waved his hands off, signaling that the fight between Quintana and 2025 Prospect of the Year Emiliano Vargas was over. What emerged thereafter was some wild protesting, with Quintana jumping off his stool and walking angrily across the ring, looking dejected. While the dramatic turn of events in the co-main event of the Emanuel Navarrete-Fernando Nunez fight filtered across social media, Quintana’s raging emotions soon found some support. For Ryan Garcia and a few others, the referee’s decision to stop the fight was a poor call.

“One of the worst stoppages I’ve seen ever,” the newly crowned WBC welterweight champion wrote.

That’s where the debate began. Fighting for the NABF and WBO Latino light welterweight titles, Vargas won the fight as the situation appeared grim in Quintana’s corner. Weighing the situation, Cigar Talks’ Naji Chill felt the pep talk from the Argentine fighter’s corner probably influenced the referee.

“I think the corner threatening to stop the fight influenced the ref to pull the trigger,” he tweeted. “The corner was trying to use reverse psychology, and the ref took it literally, smh.”

Most outlets agree that the prospect of fighting a rising star like Vargas, who was on a 16-win streak, barely ruffled Quintana. After losing the initial rounds, he started making inroads in the fifth, and it soon emerged that young Vargas’s furious onslaught had started to gas him out.

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Yet, did that warrant such a stoppage? That’s what many, including Ryan Garcia, began asking. Here’s what some of them had to say.

Fans back Ryan Garcia, rip ref over controversial stoppage

To this fan, Vargas had fallen behind as the rounds progressed. “I’m a fan of Vargas for sure, but by the middle of that fight I was pulling for Quintana 😂,” they wrote. Fernando Vargas’ son may have won the fight in the end, but his performance clearly displayed gaps that need immediate fixing.

Ryan Garcia’s words continued to resonate. “Bad stoppage; he deserved to have a chance to finish. Cuts were caused by headbutts,” one user wrote. Considering how Quintana got up and protested, it appeared he had the energy to continue the fight.

However, the sentiments echoed far and wide. This fan said, “Yeah, that was corny. Let the guy finish. 3 damn minutes, smh…” Given how the bout ended in dramatic fashion, when Quintana was still being tended to by his corner during the break, a few might feel the Argentine could have been allowed another round or two. Then it would have seemed more justified.

“Agreed! Quintana was ready to roll,” another follower felt.

A more nuanced observation emerged. “It was a solid back-and-forth fight. Even though Vargas was ahead, it wasn’t a blowout. The swelling was manageable, and the bleeding was under control. I may not agree with the stoppage, but at the end of the day, the referee made the call, and he’s one of the best at what he does,” this fan added. As they correctly highlighted, a referee’s call is largely dependent on the situation in front of him. If the fighter’s resistance wanes, then safety concerns may prompt him to stop the fight.

The debate over the ninth-round stoppage may continue for some time.

What boxing fans need to understand is whether the decision would have been drastically different if the fight had not been close inside the distance. Vargas faced a few hiccups, but his dominance was clear. Even if Quintana was trying to claw his way back, it was becoming apparent that the fight was slipping away from him.