Cuba's defending Olympic flyweight champion Robeisy Ramirez is among those taking part ©Getty Images

Thirty-nine Olympic places at Rio 2016 are up for grabs at the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Open Boxing World Olympic Qualification tournament in Baku, which begins tomorrow.

A large pool of amateur talent is travelling to Azerbaijan's capital for the event, with AIBA holding an open Olympic qualifier following its continental qualifiers for the first time.

Cuba's defending Olympic flyweight champion Robeisy Ramirez and Britain's light welterweight medal hope Pat McCormack will be two of the boxers involved, alongside Brazil's welterweight Pedro Lima, a former Pan American Games champion.

The top five boxers at flyweight, bantamweight, lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight will all earn Olympic berths.

In addition two spots are available at light heavyweight, with only the winners in Baku progressing at heavyweight and super heavyweight.

”The race for the 250 places in the 2016 Olympic Men’s Boxing competition is reaching its final stages, and the incredible number of athletes that have registered for Baku once again shows that reaching an Olympic Games is the ultimate goal for any boxer," said AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu.

Britain's Pat McCormack will also be competing in Baku
Britain's Pat McCormack will also be competing in Baku ©Getty Images

"Having brilliantly hosted the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships, Baku is perfectly suited to stage another first-class boxing event, and I want to wish the best of luck to all the competitors in their efforts to fulfil their dreams."

The first Rio 2016 qualifiers were determined at last year's AIBA World Championships in Doha, with others progressing through the World Series of Boxing (WSB) and AIBA Pro Boxing (APB).

Continental qualification events took place in Cameroon, Argentina, Turkey and China.

A WSB and APB Olympic Qualification Tournament will be held in Vargas in Venezuela from July 3 to 8. 

Following a historic ruling, passed unanimously at AIBA’s Extraordinary Congress in Lausanne on June 1, National Federations will be able to register all non-AIBA professional boxers for the tournament.

The competition will offer 26 quota places for this year’s Olympic Games.

The decision to grant professionals the opportunity to compete at the Olympics has been heavily criticised, however, with possible safety risks due to mismatches between professional and less-experienced amateurs among the concerns.

The World Boxing Council (WBC) has warned that professional fighters ranked in the top 15 of its standings face a two-year ban if they compete at Rio 2016.