Record-setting former yokozuna Hakuho will likely be demoted and fined by the Japan Sumo Association over reports of repeated violence by his 22-year-old protege Hokuseiho, a JSA source tells Kyodo News.
Yokozuna Hakuho on the first day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan on March 14 (Tsubasa Setoguchi)
Yokozuna Hakuho pulled out of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on March 16 with a serious knee injury that will require surgery, after winning his first two bouts.
Stablemaster Miyagino reported that Hakuho s doctor said the wrestler requires surgery on the joint in his injured right knee, a procedure that will be done during the tournament. Hakuho will require about two months of rehabilitation after the operation.
“If Hakuho continued fighting in this condition, he could no longer do sumo,” Miyagino quoted the doctor as saying.