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Re: [sumo] Akinoshima vs. makuuchi opponents
--- "Walker, Jay" <Walker@nhrc.navy.mil> wrote:
> Akinoshima was born in March 1967 near Hiroshima,
> the son of a fisherman.
> He joined sumo at 15 and became the first sekitori
> raised by Futagoyama
> oyakata, the former ozeki Takanohana. He would see
> Futagoyama go on to
> become the most powerful stable since the glory days
> of Dewanoumi, with
> younger heya-mates Takanohana, Wakanohana,
> Takanonami and Takatoriki
> combining to win a total of 30 yushos. While
> Akinoshima would never win a
> yusho, he would finish his career with a 647-640-78
> record and hold the
> all-time records for most kinboshis and most special
> prizes. He was the
> last makuuchi rikishi from the Showa era to retire.
>
> He reached makuuchi at the age of 20, and
> "announced" his arrival to the top
> ranks at Aki '88 by beating ozeki Asahifuji,
> yokozuna Onokuni and ozeki
> Konishiki on Days 2 to 4. He would soon gain the
> moniker of Giant Killer
> for his increasingly frequent victories over ozekis
> and yokozunas. While he
> is known today for holding the kinboshi record, what
> is sometimes forgotten
> is that he completely obliterated the previous
> record over a wild 3-year
> period (1988-1991) to gain the all-time kinboshi
> crown at the young age of
> 24. In fact, he would only record two kinboshis
> over the last 11 years of
> his career.
>
> But Akinoshima was an enigma. For as brilliant as
> he could be in bouts he
> was expected to lose, he would also often lose bouts
> to maegashira foes that
> he was expected to win. The result was trouble in
> maintaining any sustained
> drive for ozeki. His career peaked in the 1990-1992
> years, yet during that
> time he had only 4 bashos where he recorded
> double-digit wins, never
> consecutively.
>
> Superficially it looks like he made a good run in
> late '94-early '95 when he
> had 43 victories over 4 bashos. But he was ranked
> at Maegashira 13 for one
> of these bashos, and this was at a time when his
> heya's strength was
> peaking. A closer look shows that only 7 of these
> 43 wins were over sanyaku
> foes.
>
> The other time Akinoshima's performance spiked was
> an unexpected late-career
> surge in 1999. Three times that year he recorded
> an 11-4 mark while ranked
> at Maegashira 3 or higher. At the Aki '99 basho at
> age 32, he went into the
> final day tied with Musashimaru for the lead, only
> to fall to Musoyama while
> the Musashimaru defeated Wakanohana. It was only
> the second time in his
> career that Akinoshima had final-day yusho hopes.
> (The first was a 4-way
> tie for the lead at Haru '92, but he lost to
> Kotonishiki.)
>
> His record of 19 special prizes includes 8 Fighting
> Spirit prizes, 7
> Outstanding Performance prizes and 4 Technique
> prizes.
>
> So what is Akinoshima's legacy when all is said and
> done? I don't put a lot
> of credence in the fact that he ended his career
> with a winning record - the
> simple truth is that he enjoyed one of the all-time
> heya advantages in sumo
> history by not having to battle his Futagoyama
> mates. On the other hand, I
> kind of liked the one comment about Akinoshima being
> the best sekiwake to
> never win a yusho. I don't have enough knowledge of
> 300 years of sumo
> history to have a definitive opinion, but that
> conversation would certainly
> start with Akinoshima and it would come as no
> surprise if it ended with him
> too.
>
>
> Who did Akinoshima fight most often?
> ----------------------------------------
> 1. Kotonishiki 48
> 2. Musashimaru 43
> 3. Terao 40
> 4. Akebono 38
> 5. Konishiki 35
> Kotonowaka 35
> 7. Kirishima 33
> 8. Kaio 31
> Musoyama 31
> 10. Tochinowaka 28
>
>
> Who did Akinoshima defeat the most times?
> -----------------------------------------
> 1. Konishiki 25
> 2. Terao 22
> 3. Kotonowaka 16
> 4. Tochinowaka 16
> 5. Tamakasuga 15
>
> Surprise, surprise, Konishiki ranks #1. And this
> wasn't just a case of
> Akinoshima beating up on the old, plodding Konishiki
> in his declining years.
> Even when Konishiki was an ozeki, Akinoshima had an
> 18-8 edge over him.
>
>
> Who had the most wins against Akinoshima?
> ------------------------------------------
> 1. Kotonishiki 39
> 2. Musashimaru 32
> 3. Akebono 30
> 4. Kaio 25
> 5. Kirishima 20
> Musoyama 20
>
> The contention that Akinoshima is an enigma perhaps
> is best reflected in his
> utter inability to defeat Kotonishiki. Kotonishiki
> won 39 of their 48
> matches. The only time this kind of record is seen
> between two rikishi close
> enough in rank to fight this many times is some
> yokozuna dominating a poor
> komusubi/high maegashira type. Yet here were two
> rikishi the same age and
> close to equals in size and ability, yet one proved
> so hapless in their
> matches. You have to wonder if it became a mental
> thing after awhile.
> Kotonishiki's 39 wins represents the most by any
> rikishi over another.
>
> Who did Akinoshima dominate (minimum of 10 bouts)?
> ---------------------------------------------------
> 1. Asanowaka .800 (12-3)
> 2. Kitakachidoki .733 (11-4)
> 3. Kotofuji .722 (13-5)
> 4. Konishiki .714 (25-10)
> Kyokudozan .714 (10-4)
>
>
> Who gave Akinoshima the hardest time (minimum of 10
> bouts)?
>
-----------------------------------------------------------
> Kotonishiki .188 (9-39)
> Kaio .194 (6-25)
> Akebono .211 (8-30)
> Chiyotaikai .231 (3-10)
> Kyokutenho .250 (3-9)
> Musashimaru .256 (11-32)
>
>
> Who could never defeat Akinoshima?
> -----------------------------------
> Hananoumi 4-0
> Hamanishiki 3-0
> Sasshunada 3-0
>
>
> Who could Akinoshima never defeat?
> -----------------------------------
> Kotomitsuki 0-4
>
>
> -George W.
>
>
>
> [EndPost by "Walker, Jay" <Walker@nhrc.navy.mil>]
Definitely an enigma. While he may have held the
greatest heya advantage of all the Futa boys....the
fact remains that many Sekiwake faced all the
available Ozeki and Yokozuna of the past generation
and no rikishi in history recorded as many Kimboshi.
That says tons along with the special prizes. Even up
to the last days I always got the feeling that he had
the ability to surprise.
v/r Beau
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[EndPost by Charles Beauchamp <beauking1@yahoo.com>]