Twenty-two boxers from 11 different countries will vie for prize money of $10,000 each in the finals of the AIBA World Cup Moscow 2008 on Sunday after the semifinals of this AIBA end-of-year competition were completed in the Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow, Russia on Saturday.

The pedigree of Cuba shone through with all eight of its boxers advancing through to the finals while Russia, who saw three of its boxers lose their bouts against Cuban opposition, advanced four. Also represented in the money round is Uzbekistan with two boxers while Moldova, Armenia, China, Croatia, Mongolia, Philippines, the Ukraine and Venezuela have one boxer apiece as only two weight divisions feature the two top seeds in the final.

Pic: 75kg top seed Alfonso Blanco (red) from Venezuela beat Dmitry Chudinov 15:8 to hand Russia one of five defeats in the AIBA World Cup Moscow 2008 semifinals

"I believe that the success of the Cuban boxers here at the AIBA World Cup Moscow 2008 can be explained by the fact that we have trained very hard since childhood and our coaches are very strict with us so we practice a lot before any championship," Olympic Games bronze medallist Sotolongo Iglesias, 20, said after he beat Russia's Alexander Ivanov in his 64kg semifinal 18:6. "The bout wasn't too difficult but tough enough. Certainly it was tougher than the previous one but it's not the first time I have come up against a Russian boxer so I know how to approach a contest such as this one."

Iglesias, a 2008 Pan American champion, will take on MunkhErdene Uranchimeg of Mongolia in the final after Uranchimeg gained revenge for an Olympic Games quarterfinal loss to France's Alexis Vastine with a 11:8 win over the Olympic bronze medallist. It was a big win for the Mongolian with Vastine coming off a CISM victory last month.

Following Friday's rest day, a total of 44 boxers from 21 countries fought for the honour of reaching the World Cup finals and Cuba's Olympic Games bronze medallist Yampier Hernandez G set the tone for the rest of the day with a well-crafted 13:5 win over 2008 President's Cup bronze medallist Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan in the first 48kg semifinal.

The 2008 Pan American champion and Cuban champ will take on 2008 President's Cup champion Harry Tanamor of the Philippines who beat Poland's Lukasz Masczczyk 12:4.

Pic: Cuba's Sotolongo Iglesias lands on Alexander Ivanov of Russia in the 64kg semifinals

The first of two Cuba v Russia finals will take place in the 51kg division with Olympic Games silver medallist and 2006 World Cup winner Hernandez Laffita taking on Russia's 2007 Junior European champion Misha Aloyan after Laffita beat one of India's rising stars Jitender Kumar 14:6 while Aloyan outclassed Italian Olympic bronze medallist Vincenzo Picardi 14:4. The final will be a repeat of the 2008 Czech Republic Grand Prix final which 20-year-old Aloyan won 20:11.

Russia's first loss of the day saw 2007 world champion Sergey Vodopyanov go down to Moldova's Olympic bronze medallist Veaceslav Gojan by the incredible score of 15:4. Joining 25-year-old Gojan in the 54kg final will be Cuba's Olympic Games silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon, who beat the Commonwealth champion Akhil Kumar +4:4.

The second Russia v Cuba contest will be in the 57kg final after Russian two-times national champion Sergey Ignatyev out boxed President Cup champion Bahodirjon Sultonov of Uzbekistan 12:7 while 22-year-old Idel Torriente was composure personified in a 6:3 semifinal win over India's Lalit Anthresh Lakra.

The 60kg world champion Albert Selimov of Russia advanced to the finals where he will meet China's Hu Qing after he beat Puerto Rican national champ Gonzalez Pedraza 14:4 while Hu beat Azerbaijan's Famil Suleymanov 10:4 - the first of two semifinal defeats for the Azerbaijanis.

"I didn't expect I could win," Selimov said after his bout. "Pedraza was very strong and it was a tough bout. It was difficult to gain any ascendency but I delivered my blows faster than him and that helped a lot. Now I must beat Hu wich won't be easy but I'm hoping to win and become champion. That is all I dream about."

The first of two Uzbekistan boxers will feature in the 69kg final with President's Cup champion Dilshod Mahmudov, 26, taking on Cuba's Olympic silver medallist Carlos Banteaux Suarez after Mahmudov beat Latvia's Dmitrijs Sostaks by a WO with Sostaks having been ruled out by a shoulder injury while Banteaux Suarez beat Germany's Jack Culcay-Keth 15:4.

Russia's Albert Selimov (red) v Gonzalez Pedraza (PUR) in the 60kg semifinals

"This bout turned out successful because I followed the strategy all the way through," Banteaux Suarez said. "I was always one point ahead of my opponent so wasn't too concerned by the outcome."

The 75kg final meanwhile will feature the top seed Alfonso Blanco from Venezuela who impressively beat Russia's two-times national champ Dmitry Chudinov 15:8 while second seed Elshod Rasulov from Uzbekistan was upset by Armenian 27-year-old Andranik Hakobyn who reversed an Olympic Games defeat to Rasulov to win 12:2.

Rasulov's compatriot Abbos Atoev, the top seed in the 81kg class, was fortunate to reach the finals after winning his semifinal against Tajikistan's Dzhakhon Kurbanov 21:18 on accepted points after the contest was tied 9:9 at the end of normal time. The result was a reverse of the 11:3 win to Kurbanov in the first round of the 2008 Olympic Games. Atoev, the 2007 world champion, will face the Russian second seed Artur Beterbiev in a repeat of the AIBA World Championships Chicago 2007 final which Atoev won 20:17.

The 91kg class will also feature the two top seeds in the final with Olympic bronze medallist Osmai Acosta Duarte of Cuba taking on Oleksandr Usyk of the Ukraine after Acosta Duarte was far too good for Russia's Roman Masalimov 21:3 and Usyk, the European champion, beat Moldova's Mikai Muntean 5:2.

The final weight class sees Robert Alfonso Acea, who beat Russia's Niyaz Fayzullin 11:4 in the first semifinal, take on second seed Marko Tomasovic of Croatia after the 27-year-old kept Azerbaijan's Azar Mammadov scoreless in a 9:0 win.

The AIBA World Cup Moscow 2008 finals begin at 14:00 (local time) on Sunday.