Black holes are strongly supported observationally by stellar and gas dynamics, gravitational wave detections, and horizon-scale imaging. Their classical mathematical descriptions, however, contain singularities whose physical interpretation remains an open foundational issue. This paper examines a phenomenological alternative in which gravitational collapse terminates in a finite-density, rotating, neutron-star-like core rather than an infinite-density singularity. A limiting density ρmax = 7.8 × 1017 kgm−3 is adopted as a working hypothesis, not as a consequence of General Relativity (GR) or of an established neutron-star equation of state. The resulting core radius is compared with the Schwarzschild and Kerr horizon radii. In the non-rotating approximation, the condition Rn = 2GM/c2 gives a model-dependent horizon crossing mass of approximately 4.86M⊙ and radius 14.35 km. Rotation is treated with Kerr geometry, and Cygnus X-1 and PSR J1903+0327 are used as illustrative cases. The conventionalneutron-star stability limit, obtained from the Tolman—Oppenheimer—Volkoff (TOV) equationsand an equation of state, is kept conceptually separate from the proposed horizon criterion. The paper also discusses the historical compact-object mass gap and the implications of GW230529.