In what proved to be a close-knit light flyweight bout, Heredia edged through to the final to seal one of the two Olympic spots on offer in the category.

The split decision defeat spells the end of Singh's pursuit of a place on the Indian team for this year's Games in the Brazilian city.

"My boy gave his everything, he gave one of his best performance but could not get the judges nod," Singh's coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu told the Press Trust of India.

"But he was brilliant."

The second spot in the division went to Rufat Huseynov of Azerbaijan, who delighted the home crowd by beating Joselito Velazquez Altamirano of Mexico.

Clearly buoyed by the support inside the venue, Huseynov cruised to a place in the final as all three judges awarded him the bout, ensuring the Azerbaijani boxer will participate at Rio 2016.

Irish super heavyweight Dean Gardiner is one win away from sealing his ticket to Rio 2016 as he came through his semi-final clash with Alexi Zavatin from Moldova in unanimous style.

Gardiner will now go on to face Italian Vianello Guido, with the sole super heavyweight Olympic spot up for grabs.

Guido progressed to the showpiece contest as he beat Marlo Moore of the United States, who is coached by Billy Walsh, former coach of the Ireland team who helped the nation to a haul of four medals at London 2012, including the country’s first Olympic gold for 16 years when Katie Taylor triumphed in the women’s under 60 kilogram lightweight division.

Walsh officially took up the role in October of last year after lengthy contract negotiations with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association broke down.

Poland's Igor Jakubowski and Julio Castillo Torres of Ecuador will face-off for the sole heavyweight Rio 2016 place available at the event in the Azerbaijani capital after they overcame Abdeljalil Abouhamda of Morocco and Roy Korving of The Netherlands respectively.

The competition in Baku is due to conclude tomorrow.