SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Jamaican boxer Tevoy Barrett suffered a heavy defeat to Central Carib Sports (CCS) fighter Walter Duarte in their middleweight bout during the CAC Games at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices here on Friday.

Barrett lost the fight when the referee stopped the contest midway the third round of the three-round match, after Barrett received a telling left hook to the side of his head from Duarte.

However, it was Barrett who dominated the first round of the contest with a number of powerful punches to the body of Duarte. In fact Barrett sent his opponent crashing into the ropes with a powerful right hook, much to the delight of the small size crowd.

However Duarte, who looked much fitter and stronger than Barrett, dominated the remainder of the contest as he pounded the Jamaican with a number of heavy punches to the body and his head before the referee stopped the fight.

Felipe Sanchez, who is one of the coaches of the Jamaican team, said despite the defeat he is still very proud of Barrett’s performance because this was his first international fight and it must be seen as a learning experience.

“It was a difficult loss but we know that this is the sport of boxing so you win some and lose some. And no matter what, the international experience and exposure is most important. [We will] go back to the drawing board and come back stronger,” he said.

“Tevoy did a very strong first round and I was confident that he won that round but, then again, in the second round that is kind of where the level of strength and the tenacity went down.

“I think it might have been some exchange of blows and, unfortunately, we didn’t come away with the win but it was a knockout, because the referee stopped the contest because he saw where the fighter was not able to continue,” Sanchez said.

However, all is not lost for the Jamaicans as light heavyweight fighter Jayden Eccleston will be seeking his second-straight victory of the championships when he takes on Trujillo Wyatt from CCS. Eccleston produced a brilliant performance on Thursday when he defeated homeboy Jairo Luna in a unanimous decision.

Sanchez added that he is expecting another outstanding performance from Eccleston today.

“Right now, he is one of the competition’s favourites but we are expecting a very good fight from his opponent. I know that he is going to bring his ‘A’ game, as he brought on Thursday, and I know that he will come [out] on top,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s male and female beach volleyball teams suffered identical 2-0 defeats to Mexico and Cuba in their opening-round matches on Friday.