Tochinofuji

I was of the same mind on seeing it full speed, but the replay showed quite clearly that his foot was fully out before he even launched the throw, let alone finished it.

Thank you very much!

Any chance you can give us a quick summary?

Of some note, he outweighed Minowa by essentially 32kg(!) at the weigh in (114.65kg to Minowa's 82.7). He looked like he was moving better than I thought, but I'd say that wasn't a convincing outing.

And Tsuyoshi has won by TKO (referee stoppage) in round 2; a leg kick followed up with punches did the trick according to the real-time reporting over at Sherdog.

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Always tricky to say with someone like Minowa, who is well past his prime, and whose last MMA fight was over three years ago. Might be more even than it seems at first glance. For some reason it smells a bit like a work to me, but that is not backed up by anything at all and is more than a little unkind to both Takanofuji and Minowa, as well as Takanofuji's shisho Enson Inoue, that latter two for whom I have the utmost respect.

Thank you for all your work Asojima, it's been greatly appreciated.

I have seen a couple in my time, and only started watching in 2008/2009. I can recall Harumafuji/Ama (as he probably was) having one, and from ST daily logs it appears there was a Takayasu - Shohozan one in Natsu 2014, and Tokitenku - Hakuho one in Haru 2013.

Ooph, an ignoble start! Ashita wa shonichi...

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Someone more qualified than me will likely have something more to say, but I'd say that would depend on their respective oyakata and the pressure that can be put on them by the Kyokai, at least as one route to force retirement. An oyakata can submit resignation papers on behalf of their wrestlers, and my recollection is it is just as binding whether the wrestler wants to retire or note. See, for example, Futahaguro's case (from Wikipedia): "His stablemaster handed in Futahaguro’s retirement papers without consulting him and the elders of the Sumo Association voted, without giving Futahaguro a hearing, to accept it. Futahaguro became the first yokozuna ever to be expelled from sumo this way."

I don't know, they keep telling rikishi and oyakata not to haze people or bring down other scandals on the sumo world, to little effect. Cauliflower ears can make it hard to hear! That, and I imagine it's a coronavirus reduction measure (the effectiveness of which I can't comment on). For an organization like the NSK, it's important for PR that they be seen to be taking protective steps. No one would notice the wrestlers simply not doing shiko or teppo. But at least one eagle-eyed viewer noticed that the Kyokai was specifically telling the boys not to run in the hallways...

While I'm not much of a Takanofuji fan, I do love Enson, and wish him and his student well in his debut.

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