For home followers, Javad Aghayev will carry hopes of success after the unheralded fighter earned unexpected bronze in the men's featherweight under 68 kilograms category at last year's edition of the flagship event in Guadalajara, Mexico.

After beating Thailand's Chaichon Cho and Poland's Mateusz Szczesnowski to reach the round-of-32, the unseeded fighter found himself facing the formidable challenge of Uzbekistan's Tokyo 2020 champion Ulugbek Rashitov.

Aghayev proved the superior athlete over three rounds against his illustrious fellow 20-year-old and moved into a quarter-final against Jordan's Zaid Mustafa which he won with a final round score of 5-3.

That took him into a semi-final that also went to three rounds and saw Kwon Do-yun, the South Korean who would go on to win gold, advance after three rounds.

But bronze was a triumph for the young fighter who entered senior competition in 2019, the year after competing at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

He showed his potential by moving straight into winning mode, taking the Dutch Open and Belgian Open titles before competing at the World Championships in Manchester.

His preparation for the next World Championships to be held, in 2022, was aided by a strong performance in the preceding event, the European Under-21 Championships at Tirana, where he won silver.

But taking a step onto the podium in a senior global competition was another matter. 

Aghayev showed he was ready to thrive in that class of contest, however, which will make his participation in the upcoming home Worlds in Baku a fascinating prospect.