THE REACTION of Donna Barr told a story these words couldn’t paint.
Twin Towns BC’s Barr was inconsolable after losing the light-flyweight final to Lauren Hogan at the National Elite Senior Women’s Championship finals.
The teary-eyed Barr stood perplexed, puzzled and furious after Hogan was given the verdict by the ringside judges after four relentless rounds.
“Daylight robbery,” was how the Twin Towns coach Shane McHugh assessed the decision, 40-36 36-40 39-37 in favour of the St Brigid’s, Edenderry woman.
Picture caption: Donna Barr with Twin Towns BC coach Shane McHugh.
Barr, appearing in her first senior final, certainly gave as good as she got.
The Strabane native opened well and landed a couple of good right swings that let Hogan know she was in a fight.
While Hogan was the busier boxer, it wasn’t a case of having Barr pinned back. The opposite was true, but Barr became the latest victim of boxing’s way of calling the winner.
“I was sure she had it,” McHugh said.
“The second round was close, but I thought she had the better of the other three.
“She has done everything to perfection. She beat the girl hands down.”
Barr had really upped the ante by the third stanza, during which the Celtic Cup champion was on top.
Early in the fourth round, as if to reinforce the notion that Barr was having the upper hand, the red corner was beckoning for Hogan to ‘step it up’. That she did, but Barr stood the test.
“Lauren was throwing a lot, but not many punches were landing. Donna’s defence was very good, I felt.,” the ashen-faced McHugh said.
“Donna caught her with a lot more clean punches. To be honest, I don’t know what the judges were watching.”
An impressive win over Alexandra Kornaga in last week’s semi-final catapulted Barr into the biggest bout of her career.
Hogan entered the ring as the defending 48kgs champion, but was made earn her corn here by the brave Barr.
Before a big crowd at The National Stadium, Barr emptied the tank and left every sinew of her being on the canvas.
The result came. Hogan’s arm was hoisted and Barr was left in that lonely world of the beaten boxer.
McHugh said: “Donna has put in six months of unbelievably hard work. She gave it everything. From the strength and conditioning work to the fights, she gave everything that she had.
“Donna has been flying and has been boxing brilliantly this year. It was a great experience for her and it’s just disappointing to get beaten like that when she clearly had the fight won.”
It was a night of disappointment for both Donegal boxers who were in action.
In the 81+kgs final, Carrigart’s Maeve McCarron lost 40-36, 39-37, 39-37 against Diana Campbell of Garda.
The 18-year-old McCarron was also in her first senior final, but Campbell’s experience told as she took the unanimous decision.
For McCarron, winner of seven previous national titles, it will have been a useful learning experience.
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