Editor's note: Maxim Dadashev died Tuesday from brain injuries suffered in a fight with Subriel Matias on Friday. This column was written after Dadashev was admitted to the hospital.

OXON HILL, MD. -- At the end of the 11th round, Buddy McGirt told his fighter, "I'm going to stop it, Max."

Maxim Dadashev, 28, is from St. Petersburg, Russia. He was 281-20 as an amateur, undefeated in 13 professional fights, and the IBF's third-ranked junior welterweight. He aspired to be both an American and a champion, and often spoke of the day, in the not too distant future, when he would take his wife and son to Miami, or maybe Hawaii, a place where they could lie in the sun.

"Max, you're getting hit too much."

Dadashev shook his head no.

"Please, Max, please," said McGirt, a former welterweight champion recently inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. "Let me do this. OK?"

The fighter blinked. His chest heaved. But he said nothing.

"OK? Look at me. Please."

Dadashev shook his head, even fainter than the first time.

"If I don't, the referee's gonna do it."

You could all but see Dadashev considering his options. Still, Dadashev had nothing for his trainer. It's not that he couldn't hear him. Or that he didn't understand. This was a willful act, perhaps the most willful of all.

"C'mon, Max," McGirt said. "Please."

Finally, McGirt did what his fighter would not: surrender.

"That's it, doc," he told the ringside physician. Then he turned to the ref, Kenny Chevalier. "That's it."

Subriel Matias, the winner, fell to his knees, elated. As a child in Maternillo, Puerto Rico, Matias had been bullied because of his dark skin. In 2012, he was shot in the back and legs, then did federal time on conspiracy drug charges. "I wouldn't snitch," he said. But Friday night, Matias found himself 14-0, all by stoppage, and on course for a title shot. "I'm the pride of my neighborhood," he would declare.