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.
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.
[4] After one fight in the Philippines (where he defeated Mexican, Marino Montiel for the then vacant WBO Inter-Continental and Asia Pacific Youth super bantamweight titles), Bautista fought in The World Awaits undercard, when his promoter at the time, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, allowed Bautista to fight in the undercard of his bout against Floyd Mayweather.
[5] On May 5, 2007, in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bautista faced and defeated the then undefeated Argentine contender Sergio Manuel Medina (28-0) by UD.
But nonetheless, "in the end, it was the unabated aggression of Bautista which accounted for the big margins on the scorecards of the judges, as he connected with several solid combinations to win most of the close rounds (of the bout)".
[6] On August 11, 2007, in ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, Bautista headlined the boxing World Cup staged by Golden Boy Promotions: Philippines vs. Mexico.
[7] On November 22, 2008, after administering three more wins to build his confidence following his first-round knockout loss to Ponce de León, Bautista was vanquished by Heriberto Ruiz of Mexico, who had a record of (39-7-2) coming into the bout.
There, he took on respected Marangin Marbun of Indonesia, whom he defeated by a seventh-round TKO,[9] awarding Bautista the then vacant interim WBC International Featherweight title, which he relinquished on January 19, 2010.
The Filipino pugilist won the match by TKO in the 4th round, after the referee stopped the fight due to a bad cut over Barrera's left eye, caused by a punch.
[13] On October 20 Bautista won against Daniel Ruiz for the vacant WBO International featherweight title via split decision.
[14] Bautista attempted to defend the WBO International featherweight championship against José Ramírez on April 20, 2013 but lost by split decision.