Later, Laurente joined his parents in Leyte and did some work in the farm until he went to Manila to live with his uncle.
A friend and pro boxer Aljun Corporal brought Laurente to Elorde in 1998.
He won his first title, the Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) lightweight championship, on August 9, 2000, against veteran fighter Francis Velasquez.
Despite the loss, Laurente won the vacant OPBF lightweight title against Yosuke Otsuka in his next bout on November 23, 2001.
He defended the title a total of 7 times, but fell short to Chicashi Inada on March 5, 2005.