Macklin, Froch, Nelson, Coldwell and Oliver make their choice.
Sunday 30 December 2018 17:10, UK
It will be a make-or-break year for many of boxing's rising stars but who do our Panel believe will have what it takes to rise above the rest.
Several Olympians, including Joe Joyce, Josh Kelly, Anthony Fowler and Joshua Buatsi, have seamlessly made the transition to the pro game while many others will no doubt believe they can steal the 2019 show.
Here's who our panel of experts are most looking forward to seeing next year...
Jordan Gill is someone that I'm a huge fan of., I've seen him come through and he's simply the sweet science of boxing. He's not a banger but a beautiful boxer. Unfortunately in this day and age people want crash, bang, wallop, but if you love the sweet science, Jordan Gill is your man.
If you love the sweet science, Jordan Gill is your man.
Another I like is Josh Kelly who again is technically class. Unfortunately he fell ill before his Sheffield fight so couldn't perform to give me credence to that, but this guy really is second to none.
I've been banging on about Joshua Buatsi since he turned over and I'm not going to change my opinion. I think he's going all the way. He's very well-schooled, solid and compact, picks his punches well, is very economical and sets everything up with a ramrod job.
Buatsi is the pick out of the Rio 2016 bunch.
He is the pick out of the Rio 2016 bunch. There's an audience out there for every personality, just be true to yourself. Buatsi is very humble, but I like him because of his boxing skills. People will see him put in a scintillating performance and it'll be his performances that will do the talking for him.
I'm going to go away from the UK and say someone who has burst onto the scene - Anthony Sims Jr. He is nailed on to go far. He has old school skills and an old school boxing brain, as well as a fantastic personality, he's my pick to turn into a big star next year.
Anthony Sims Jr has old-school skills and is nailed on to go far.
Sims Jr has signed with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing so we're going to see a lot of him and it's sure to be an entertaining journey, he really is ready to take the next big step. Another one in The States is Shakur Stevenson who is a quality and well-accomplished amateur.
The one I'm going to go for as the breakout stat is Joe Cordina, he's got all the skills to go a long way.
Cordina will be very high up the world rankings by the end of 2019
Granted he is already established, eight fights in and a Commonwealth champion, I think by the end of 2019 he will have climbed very high up the world rankings.
I've got two that I really think will quickly take that next big step - Josh Kelly and Joshua Buatsi. Kelly has all the skills in his armoury and has adjusted to the professional game brilliantly. With Adam Booth in his corner and the likes of Ryan Burnett and Michael Conlan in the gym, it's all set up for him to go all the way.
Kelly has all the skills in his armoury and has adjusted to the professional game brilliantly.
Like most are probably saying, Buatsi is one of the biggest talents around and has a huge future. We want to see him take on Anthony Yarde, but there's many big fights out there for him. To become a star you need other good fighters in the division and the light-heavyweight rankings certainly has that.
