The event is the only opportunity for professionals to book their place at Rio 2016 following a controversial ruling passed at the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Extraordinary Congress on June 1.

AIBA told insidethegames that the list of boxers who had registered their interest in the competition in Venezuela would be revealed on June 23 but did not announce the confirmed participants until last night.

N’Dam, a former World Boxing Organisation interim middleweight champion, and Ruenrong, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title holder until October of last year when he suffered defeat to Johnriel Casimero of the Philippines, have both entered the tournament.

They will be hoping to improve on their previous Olympic appearances.

Ruenrong lost to Mongolia's Purevdorjiin Serdamba in the quarter-finals at Beijing 2008.

N’Dam also exited at the last eight stage when he was beaten by Filipino boxer John Riel Casimero at Athens 2004.

The two boxers are arguably the leading competitors in Vargas but are perhaps not the names the AIBA were hoping for when they opened the Olympic tournament to professionals.

The likes of Britain’s Amir Khan and Wladimir Klitschko, two of the most high-profile names in the sport, had both briefly flirted with the idea of trying to earn an Olympic berth before opting not to compete in Vargas.

Khan had even suggested he may try to represent Pakistan, the country of his father’s birth.

The decision to grant professionals the opportunity to compete at the Olympics has been met with fierce criticism, with possible safety risks due to mismatches between professional and less-experienced fighters among the concerns.

The World Boxing Council has warned professional fighters ranked in its top 15 face a two-year ban if they compete at Rio 2016.

Earlier this month, the Mexican Boxing Federation confirmed that its professional fighters will not participate at Rio 2016.

The IBF have also been outspoken about the move after they announced last month that they will strip boxers of their titles should they compete at the Olympics.

They also warned they could be removed from their rankings.

A total of 26 quota places for Rio 2016 will be up for grabs over six days of competition at the Jose Maria Vargas Dome.

“This is a historic moment in boxing and we are eager to complete the Rio 2016 line-up with a groundbreaking competition in Vargas, open to APB/WSB and pro boxers from all organisations for the very first time,” AIBA President C K Wu, the driving force behind the plan to allow professional boxers to compete in the Olympics, said.

“I want to express my sincere thanks to the Organising Committee for their excellent work in preparing the last Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the home of Venezuelan boxing where the passion for our sport is unequalled.”