Anthony Bonsante was stopped in bizarre fashion on August 1st against Haitian born Canadian Adonis Stevenson in his last bout.
At around :40 into the opening round, Stevenson landed the first serious punch of the fight which sent Bonsante down, flat on his back, eyes closed.
Referee Gerry Bolen began his count as Bonsante lay motionless, eyes closed, contemplating which count he was going to rise on, as he would later explain.
From watching the Espn telecast, it appeared that Bolen stopped his count and began waiving the fight off just as Bonsante shot up like a rocket shocking both viewers and Bolen in the process.
Bonsante screamed at Bolen on steady legs that he was ok to fight.
Bonsante was obviously not in any kind of trouble at this point but Bolen made the decision to stick by his original decision to stop the fight despite the pleads from Bonsante.
Bonsante discusses in detail what happened in that fight and also talks about the recent interviews exchanged between him and Zach Walters below.

Talk to us about what happened in your fight against Adonis Stevenson.
I was perfectly stable, perfectly aware of where I was and what I was doing. The ref should have looked at me when I got up and said "you know what? You are fine and can continue. If you do not choose to fight, then I am going to call it."
Ive seen the fight 6,7 or 8 times now. If I was out when he knocked me down, I would not have been able to put my hands behind my head to catch myself for one. Two, when a boxer gets knocked down there is an official time keeper that pics up the count when you hit the canvas. The referee has the job of putting the other fighter in the neutral corner. He didn't pick up the count until four. When I am laying on the floor, I picked up the time keepers count at two. I am hearing two, three, four, five, thinking to myself that I have until the count of eight. Deliberating whether I should get up at the count of six, seven, eight, or what have you. So I get up at six and he starts waiving me off. He stops momentarily when I show him I am fine then continues to waive me off. He looks in my eyes and says "Well you are up now". I yell "Yes, I AM up now!"
He then asks why my eyes were closed. Well I say I was deliberating whether I should get up at six or eight. That's my choice. I am supposed to get eight seconds. At that point, after making the wrong decision, he could have said "You know what Tony, you are ok, I made a snap judgment, I am going to let you continue." He could have said that but he didn't. Whether there was something suspicious going on there, I don't know. It's tough to say with a Canadian boxer, Canadian ref, and a Canadian belt. I don't want to say for sure that the ref had other intentions for the hometown fighter, but you never know when something like that happens. His ego may have played into his decision but even if you don't like me, give me the opportunity to continue.

Were you seriously hurt at any time from the punch that put you down?
I wasn't that hurt. If you watch my legs when I get up, they are strong, stable and solid. For me to be able to argue with the referees decision like that, I had to be completely ok. Nowhere in the boxing rules does it say a boxer must keep his eyes open to give the referee a signal. At no time did he say you need to give me something to go on or I am counting you out. He just kept counting. I heard every count and got up at six. He should have given me until eight. At five and a half he starts waiving me off. I got up and he stopped his call off. After I stand up and look at him he continues to waive it off. A referee with 12 year of experience should have known to give me the opportunity to fight but he didn't. The punch didn't hit me flush, it grazed me. It was enough to knock me down. I took my eight count and the referee made a bad call.

Some people have speculated that you might have been playing possum to surprise Stevenson. Is there any truth to that?
No! It wasn't about playing possum. I was taking my eight count that is supposed to be given to a professional fighter. I don't play possum. If you hurt me, I am going to let you know it. He didn't hurt me. It was a flash knockdown and you and I both know what that is.

Will the mandatory 30 day suspension because of the ko prevent you from fighting on September 20th at Treasure Island Casino?
It won't effect anything on the 20th. I will still be fighting at Treasure Island.

Any details or opponent names you can share?
We don't have an opponent yet but I think my agent is working on that. A few names have been mentioned but nothing has been agreed on yet.

Things have gotten pretty heated in the latest interviews I have done with you and Zach Walters...
The whole Zach Walters thing got blown way out of proportion. I never meant to disrespect Zach's team or Zach Walters. He is a premier light heavyweight in the state of Minnesota. He is Nationally recognized as the NABA light heavyweight titlist. He has a prominent future ahead of him. He is a good guy and I never meant any disrespect. All I was trying to do in that interview was get the word out that I want to fight Andy Kolle. Not necessarily Zach Walters. I think Zach took it the wrong way. He is a good guy and I certainly don't want to fight him. He is 6'3 and has arms from here till tomorrow. I want to fight Andy Kolle which is a fight that makes much more sense. If Zach is looking for an apology then this is as close as he is going to get. I meant no disrespect to him. I wish him and his team the best of luck. Unfortunately I would like to fight Andy Kolle because I think it would be a great middleweight matchup for the state of Minnesota. I think that is what the fans want and deserve. Whether it happens remains to be seen. But I want to extend to Zach the best of luck. I think he has a great future in the light heavyweight division. I don't know what else to say. I have never had anything bad to say about Zach other then that interview and that was just me trying to get things riled up for Andy Kolle. I was hoping Andy would come forward and want to fight me, but Zach Walters did unfortunately.
Andy and I both know that is the fight for Minnesota. I think you draw a lot of people and make a lot of money for the state of Minnesota with that matchup. Again, I meant no disrespect to Zach. He has turned his life around and boxes well. I wish him the best but there is no way in hell I want to go to light heavyweight to fight him when there are fights that make more sense in the state of Minnesota. This is probably my last year of boxing. I am going to take fights that make sense for me and then retire from the sport and leave it for guys like Zach (Walters), Andy (Kolle), Phil Williams, Wilton Hilario, The Litzau's and the rest of the future of Minnesota boxing.