In recent times, the sport has become a 12-month enterprise but this year, interest in the World Cup gave promoters and matchmakers a much-needed opportunity to take their foot off the gas, catch their breath and plot their next moves.

The sport is too popular to grind to a complete halt and the business has continued ticking along but things are ready to kick back into gear and a raft of dates will be announced.

World title fights and major arena events will dominate headlines and conversation but some of Britain’s brightest young hopes also have some important months ahead of them.

Here are three blue-chip prospects looking to make an impact before the year ends.

Giorgio Visioli’s razor sharp reflexes and devastating counterpunching made a sudden, startling impact on the professional scene in 2023.

The 23-year-old lightweight from Surrey opened his career with three impressive finishes but has started to meet some resistance and been taken the distance in his last four outings.

Last December he stepped up to English title level. His subsequent 10-round decision wins over Joe Howarth and Levi Giles were solid victories but exactly the type of results that any fighter with ambitions of winning a British title would be expected to notch. Against Howarth in particular, Visioli had to fight hard for his success.

Visioli has been embroiled in a long-running social media battle with American prospect Curmel Moton (9-0, 7 KOs), after their well-documented Las Vegas sparring sessions. Extremely confident in his own ability, it is time for him to reignite the excitement he generated when bursting onto the scene.

He has been heavily linked to a fight with unbeaten British and Commonwealth lightweight champion Louie O’Doherty (12-0, 3 KOs), which would tell us a lot about his future prospects.

Scotland has been searching for a world-level talent to represent them on the world stage since former Ring and undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor retired last summer. Dundee's Hickey could well be that man.

Hickey ticked along quietly after turning professional in October 2024 but signing with Zuffa Boxing has injected some life into the 26-year-old middleweight's career. In June he made an immediate impression with a nasty knockout of the previously-undefeated Todd Tompkins that caught the eye of some influential people.

He will next fight on August 8, boxing Brad Axe (5-1) in Dublin on the Callum Walsh-Tyler Denny undercard.

Hickey represented Team GB as an amateur and decided to continue working with Rob McCracken when turning professional. They have quietly gone about their work in the gym and have tried to make the most of their far too infrequent appearances.

It feels like the leash is about to come off. Hickey seems to have the ruthless, cold streak that is absolutely crucial for fighters to succeed at the highest level and could move quickly.

This time last year, the 23-year-old Londoner looked perfectly set to push on towards titles and leave the prospect stage of his career behind.

Explosive and vicious inside the ring and a unique, vivacious character outside of it, 23-year-old Junior trains under Ben Davison and has the backing of Queensberry.

12 months ago, Junior boxed former British title challenger and Jai Opetaia opponent Ellis Zorro. Junior won a decision but it was a scruffy, close victory raising some previously unaired questions. He has been working away in the gym ever since.

On August 22, Junior gets the chance to make up any lost ground when facing the extremely experienced Mike Perez (32-3-1, 22 KOs) on the Moses Itauma-Filip Hrgovic undercard.

Perez hasn’t been beaten since losing a decision to Mairis Briedis in a WBC title fight way back in September 2017. Although his level of competition hasn’t been the highest, the 40-year-old Cuban southpaw should still be able to pose plenty of problems.

Junior remains one of British boxing's most interesting talents and is just one eye-catching performance from recapturing his share of the excitement that cruiserweight rival Pat Brown has quickly seized.