Due to take place from May 19 to 27 at the Barys Arena, the ninth edition of the Championships will provide 12 of the 300-plus competing athletes with Olympic quota places for Rio de Janeiro later this year - four at each of the three Olympic weight classes; 51 kilograms, 60 kg and 75kg.

The tournament was originally due to take place from February 1 to 14, but an International Boxing Association (AIBA) spokesperson told insidethegames in November it had been pushed back three months in order to give organisers more time to prepare.

"The 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships are set to light up Astana, a beautiful city with vast experience of hosting major sporting events," said AIBA President C K Wu.

"This will be a true showcase of the incredible skill, power and elegance of our sport, determining not only the best women boxers in the world across 10 weight categories, but also the first 12 qualifiers for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games."

Boxing in Kazakhstan, which hosted the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty, is currently enjoying a surge in popularity thanks to grassroots investment and the rapid growth of women’s sport.

Bolat Abdrakhmanov, President of the tournament’s Local Organising Committee, is confident that the AIBA Women’s World Championships will be one of the most memorable events on the sporting calendar this year.

"Women’s boxing is becoming more and more popular every year and its introduction during the London 2012 Olympic Games was hugely important for the sport," he said.

"People love boxing in Kazakhstan, so it will be great for them to be able to witness its stars compete and gives another reason for more women in our country to get involved in this great sport."

The Championships will see Ireland’s Katie Taylor aim to defend the lightweight world title she won two years ago, while Britain's London 2012 gold medal-winning flyweight Nicola Adams will be bidding to get her Olympic preparations off to a good start. 

"I’m hungry for a shot at the World Championship title in Astana but I know that it’s going to be tough against such a strong field," said Adams, who was unable to compete at the 2014 World Championships in Jeju in South Korea due to a shoulder injury.

"Women’s boxing deserves events of this scale and the team can’t wait to get going - this year is going to provide the perfect showcase for our sport and we are ready to show what we can do."

AIBA’s controversial decision to push the event back means its Women’s World Championships will come after the European Olympic Qualification tournament, due to be staged in Turkish city Samsun from April 7 to 18.

A total of six qualification berths for this summer’s Olympic Games will be available in the three Olympic women’s boxing categories, with two to be awarded in each.

If a boxer meets the qualification criteria at both the European qualifier and the World Championships, their place at the second event will take priority.

The spot they give up will then be given to the next highest-ranked athlete and if two competitors from the same country have earned their ticket to Rio 2016 in the same weight category, the respective National Federation will choose which boxer to send to the Brazilian city.