Tyrone ‘El Bombero’ Buttigieg became the World Boxing Organisation’s Latino boxing champion after beating Leyman Benavides in a packed Casino Admiral in San Roque on Saturday night.

Tyrone’s eleventh fight will place him in the top 15 once rankings are announced in December.

About 300 people in the crowd were from Gibraltar and the atmosphere was, he says, “buzzing.”

Speaking to YGTV, Tyrone said: “There was a lot of pressure on me. My opponent had three times more experience than me, hadn’t lost since 2017 and was ranked number one in the world in 2018.”

He described the fight as “very tough.” 

“I knew he was an opponent with a high work rate,” he explained, “and it was an action-packed contest with a lot of back and forth…it was very competitive.”

Tyrone said that he managed to land the “more eye-catching punches” early on but that Benavides made a comeback in the seventh round while Tyrone rested and conserved his energy for the final rounds. His efforts paid off as he earned a unanimous decision from the judges in his favour. 

He ended: “A massive thank you to all my supporters and sponsors, I hope I’ve made Gibraltar proud. We’ve definitely made history!”

Pics: Neil Wilson