THERE WAS NO joy for Donna Barr in her opening bout at the 2016 Women’s World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan.
The Twin Towns light-flyweight was beaten by Canadian Kim Klavel at the Barys Arena in Astana.
Barr, still only in her first season as a senior boxer, was a late confirmation for these championships.
Late last year, the Strabane native had been beaten by Lauren Hogan in the Irish Elite Senior final in Dublin and since then has been in a training camp with the High Performance Unit at the National Stadium.
[adrotate group=”57″]Klavel began with real zeal and Barr looked to have repelled the initial wave of blows.
Barr gave as good as she got in the first stanza, but Canadian Klavel took over for the next three rounds.
Klavel forced Barr into two standing counts, one in the second and another in the third, but the Twin Towns woman gamely fought on, although Klavel ended up the comfortable winner.
The three judges scored the bout 40-33, 40-34, 40-36 in favour of Klavel.
The experience is one that will stand Barr in good stead whenever she resumes for her next campaign.
