Rey Bautista (Boom-Boom) boxer

Reynaldo "Rey" Bautista (born June 19, 1986 in Candijay, Bohol, Philippines), more commonly known as Boom Boom Bautista, is a retired Filipino professional boxer who once fought for the WBO junior featherweight title. He currently resides in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.Bautista spent his early childhood in the fields, growing rice with his family. Craving to live a better and more successful life, he turned to boxing at a very young age. Bautista, at the time, was discovered by Nemi Monton (ABAP Region VII president and chair for Boxing Development of the Bohol PSC), who allowed the young Bautista to fight in amateur bouts, within the island province of Bohol. Fed up with poverty, Bautista turned pro just a week shy before his 17th birthday, hoping to find a better opportunity.On June 12, 2003, in the Gaisano Country Mall in Cebu, Philippines, Bautista made his professional debut. He won a shutout, unanimous decision (UD) through six rounds against Reyco Compendio. At only 17 years of age, Bautista showed much potential.After winning his next seven fights, Bautista compiled an undefeated record of eight wins, and 0 losses (8-0). With only eight fights under his belt, the young Bautista campaigned in Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan for his next three fights. Impressively, he won all three bouts. Bautista defeated Indonesian, Hengky Wuwungan when the referee stopped the fight to prevent Wuwungan from receiving any further damage. Bautista then faced South Korean, Hwi-Jong Kim, whom he defeated by a split decision (SD) through ten rounds. Then Bautista followed that up by traveling to Japan to defeat Hirokatsu Yamazaki, when the Japanese retired from the bout right after the third round.Following the Yamazaki fight, Bautista had the opportunity to fight for his first regional title. On August 17, 2004, in the Sports and Cultural Complex in Mandaue City, Cebu, Bautista defeated Thai fighter, Saensak Singmanasak by second-round TKO for the then vacant WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title. Bautista defended that title once (against South African Vuyisile Bebe, whom he defeated by a UD through twelve rounds) before he got his first big break in the sport, a chance to show many others his true potential.On September 10, 2005, in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Bautista fought in the undercard of Manny Pacquiao's and Erik Morales' respective fights with both Héctor Velázquez and Zahir Raheem. The then undefeated Bautista was able to defeat his Colombian opponent (Felix Flores) by a third-round KO, impressing many people, which led to him fighting on U.S. soil for the majority of his next few fights. But before he was able to make his three fight campaign in the United States, Bautista needed to defend his WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title from Tanzanian, Obote Ameme. Bautista was able to do just that, defeating Ameme by a second-round TKO.