Philippine Sports News and Updates

MANILA, Philippines - Rey Bautista's head took a vicious cut. Another loss might have gotten his morale another vicious hit.

Bautista's steady return to world-title buzz encountered a hitch on Saturday after he lost in a unanimous decision to Heriberto Ruiz in a super-bantamweight undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The 22-year-old Filipino fell in an eight-rounder - with all scores coming in lopsidedly - not exactly the kind of result expected of Bautista, perpetually dubbed as a future world champ.

Bautista prepared diligently for Ruiz, training at the gym of Floyd Mayweather Sr. in Las Vegas.

But he couldn't raise his ferocity level against his game Mexican foe.

Bautista (26-2, won-lost) suffered a nasty cut just above his eyebrow in the third round on a headbutt before Ruiz knocked him down with a left hook in the same round.

Bautista, who was bothered by the cut and Ruiz's fundamentally sound technique, wouldn't recover after.

It didn't used to be this frustrating for Bautista, who won his first 23 fights virtually all by knockout.

In his 24th match, Bautista got a chance at the 122lb world title, a shot that slipped away fast after he lost in a stunning first-round knockout to Daniel Ponce de Leon in August 2007.

Bautista was said to have been gravely demoralized by the defeat. But he quickly got into the ring four months later where he won in a unanimous decision.

He had won three straight prior to Saturday's defeat.

- GMANews.TV