Canada finishes without a medal at women's boxing championships

Montreal boxer Kim Klavel was defeated in the quarter-finals at the women's world boxing championships in China on Wednesday.

Klavel lost by a score of 21-15 to Josie Gabuco of the Philippines in a four-round bout in the 48-kilogram weight class.

She was the last Canadian boxer remaining at the event held in Qinghuangdo.

Canada won three medals at the inaugural 2008 championhips and one medal two years ago.

The worlds are being held in 10 divisions but only three will be contested at the Olympics: 51-kilogram flyweight, 60-kilogram lightweight and 75-kilogram middleweight.

A dozen fighters will compete in each of those three weight classes, with the International Boxing Association having predetermined a system that will ensure representation from all parts of the globe.

That means that three-time Canadian world champ Mary Spencer, who lost earlier this week, could still conceivably claim one of the two "Americas" spots for the London Games.

A tripartite commission will finalize the remainder of the Olympic participants in the coming weeks.