Sumo is associated with massive wrestlers.
The thing is that there are no weight categories in this sport. Therefore, sumotori try to gain weight, which will give them an advantage during performances.
The average weight of professional sumo wrestlers is about 130 kilograms.
There are wrestlers whose weight exceeds 200 kilograms.
It is generally accepted that it is impossible for a "light" sumo wrestler to achieve serious success at a high level. However, Takanoyama Shuntaro has proven otherwise.
The Career of Takanoyama Shuntaro
The real name of this wrestler is Pavel Boyar. He was born in the Czech Republic in 1983.
At first, the athlete was interested in another type of Japanese wrestling - judo. Later, he began to seriously engage in sumo.
In 2000, he moved to Japan and made his professional debut a year later.
In 2011, Takanoyama Shuntaro made his first appearance in the top sumo league.
With a height of 185 centimeters, the sumotori weighed less than 100 kilograms, which is very little for a sumo wrestler. There were periods when the athlete's weight was 90 kilograms.
Some opponents weighed twice as much. And this did not stop Takanoyama from demonstrating beautiful wrestling and winning.
Due to his relatively small weight, the sumo wrestler was unable to focus on power wrestling. The athlete compensated for this deficiency by being able to perform throws and hooks.
Takanoyama competed in over 640 bouts, winning just over half of them.
In the major league, the sumo wrestler took part in 75 fights. Despite his small weight, he won 26 times.
Takanoyama retired in the summer of 2014.
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