The NEXT: Golden Boy?

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"El Chamuco" drops the hammer on an unsuspecting victim.

The Gods have spoken: Oscar De La Hoya is done (even Stephen A. agrees). But there might be a ray of sunshine on the horizon for De La Hoya fans. His name is Shawn Estrada and he hails from the same East Los Angeles neighborhood that De La Hoya is from.

Most people know the 23-year-old Estrada as part of the contentious USA team that in Beijing became one of the few American squads in Olympic history not to bring home a gold (Estrada was eliminated by the eventual gold-medal winner). But last year he officially left the amateur life behind and turned pro, kicking off his career with a couple of slayfests. He ended his first fight in a first round knockout, then last month he produced another first round knockout, this one in only 43 seconds with his challenger failing to land a single punch. He's building his record one tomato can at a time until his handlers think he's ready.

The Los Angeles Times calls him a "tough, furious-punching prospect who offers unmistakable similarities to the 'Golden Boy' Oscar De La Hoya." At 6' he's got more raw power than Oscar. And if De La Hoya is a boxer, then Estrada is certainly more of a puncher. But they share other things in common. Like De La Hoya, Estrada was drawn to the sport by his father, who boxed on the Mexican National team (he is the youngest of 16 siblings, many of whom also made their way into the ring). And according to Shawn , he'd been in talks with Golden Boy Productions, but he ended up signing with Goossen Tutor .

It's easy to dismiss the hype as, well, just hype. He's still only got two wins. But for an idea of what kind of potential he has: two boxers he beat as an amateur in the Olympic Trials —Danny Jacobs and Fernando Guerrero—have gone a combined 17—0 as pros. And, unlike De La Hoya, there's a certain unidentifiable edge about him. He said himself that when he joined the US team no one approached him for weeks. "I asked them why they weren't talking to me, they said, 'Because you look like a crazy mother f***er.'"

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