How now Spiffykins? 😂 Well done to our Nephew! So happy for him, he comes across as a good egg. Thank you for the great video, it really helped plot a chart through the basho.
What a finish. I'm making the instant banzuke now, and I've got some comments on how he still managed the promotion. Full props to him, though, for really looking the part this tournament.
@sumospiffysbarandgrill I still find him a little weak with people he should beat, but I love the fact that he comes across as a little over-aggressive because he's not quite confident in himself yet. I look forward to him coming into himself flowering as Yokozuna. Feel sorry for Koto, he's had a horrible time, I hope he can still make it. I would love to know your thoughts on that.
@@Songbirdstress Not much to say about Koto until and unless we get some report on what was going on with him. He was obviously hurting, and it was probably his knee, but he's been wrapping that for a while. If we don't hear anything, it's hard to say what to expect until at least we start getting training reports leading up to March.
Cant overstate how good a content these breakdowns are... fun fun fun! (so errm good job you as always!) In general fully agree with everything. Will note about Hoss though that his willingness to thwart POWAAAA is a trend from about july onward, which is also when he started breaking that "vanishing" tachiai once a bash (where he just seems to appear out of no where behind a fool and drop him in a blink). But he seems to get a lot more straight up "i r stronk' pushes at the tachiais in general now. There's also the stuff like straight up lifting kiri this last bash which i cant remember him pulling off ever. So thats to say he seem to genuinely go more for straight power as a tactic now and not just a one time gimmick - so there's hope there. With that being said yeah cant see him get 13 in a world where all big pounders are healthy and playing.... lets hope he'll make the basho fun for all though
That was an astounding breakdown. I know the odds are against him but Nephew has had an astounding series of practice bouts. Apparently yeeting everyone that steps in front of him. He seems hyper motivated and Clubber Lang level hungry for gis chance. Can't wait to see if it translates to the dohyo.
I still believe. He is rounding out into his bigger body and seems to have the sharpest spear when it comes to attitude and presence. Onosato is nearly a shoe-in for eventual promotion to the rope, but his mental is still not quite there. I just have that fight in the dog feeling about Hoshoryu this basho, but he has had first week letdowns so many times, we will see if he has truly turned the corner. I just wish I could watch this basho, theres so much on the line this time.
I sure hope Terun dominates like he used to and we have a playoff between him and an ozeki. I'm rooting for Koto but a four-way playoff between him and the Ozekis would make this a legendary tournament.
One thing everyone is discounting Nephew’s motivation and chip on his shoulder. Everyone is saying he isn’t going to make Yoko. So you know he is highly motivated now. But on the other hand, you can’t measure that either.
As a Hoshoryu fan, I agree with everything you've said. I hope he can continue to take this step up and not revert back to always trying to throw. He set a good foundation in November and I hope he continues to build off of that.
One important detriment to Kotozakura this tournament: he seems to have partied hard after his first Yusho. From recent practice bouts vs other Sanyaku it seems that he is not back in form yet, and may be in terrible form compared to Hoshoryu.
Kotozakura is actually extremely easy to beat once you get used to exploit his obvious sumo flaws. Full body parries are needed against him and once you negate his shoving techniques, he gets widely open to every counterattack strategy you can come up with... Hoshoryuy is a tough nut to crack... Once he ditches his overall reliance of throws , he becomes completely unpredictable. My prediction for this basho - Onosato will win it and make Yokozuna in March.
I was hoping you would dig into Hoshoryu’s technique shift! The main thing that gives me more confidence in his chances this time is specifically how well he’s been at improving his yorikiri techniques the last few months. Practice is absolutely different from game time, but if his yorikiri game is anywhere close to how it looked at the YDC soken, he’s got a chance of surprising people.
Do you think the all-stable practice sessions before tournaments are good predictors of the tourneys? Because Hoshoryu was a freight train in those sessions. In one of them he beat Koto 8-1, which apparently was his best ever practice result against him. He also beat Onosato 8-6. He was fighting like a man possessed.
They're better than nothing, but no, they're not good predictors. It would be a waste of time if the top guys just went all out with their best stuff in practice bouts. They try different things, and if those ideas don't work, the numbers look bad. But they go back to their primary ideas when it counts.
I am a fan of Koto since he was kid, but I have to admit he still lack the power and style as a Yokozuna. Hoshoryu is ready for the title, not only adding his weight, aggressive tactics but the attitude. There is something out of control, that is JSA might prefer the Japanese Yokozuna.
It's hard to see Hoshoryu as a Yokozuna when he constantly loses to people he shouldn't have. He also struggles against the real big guys because they are just too wide to get over your hip easily. He did look really good last tournament, but once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and only when he does it three times will I start to believe.
I feel koto is about 90% of his full potential. But nephew is about 75% of his full potential. Hard to see koto getting much stronger without significantly increasing weight which may hurt his mobility but nephew is only getting bigger n stronger by the day. Nephew needs to use more leg trips and not rely on throws until he’s stronger. Teru will most likely pull out midway if he has more than 3 losses. Onosato has the most potential for Yoko because of his size but not sure if he has drive to reach the next level and truly dominate. Maybe if kirishima gets his act together he might be up in the mix again
Training sessions are practice. Hoshoryu's been kicking ass, so maybe that helps him start well, but they're generally a poor indicator of how guys finish.
Your breakdown of Kiri makes me wonder what happened to him in the last basho . He seemed distracted and performed far below of what he is capable of. My heart really wants to pick Hoshoryu, but my mind picks Kotozakura , since Hoshoryu has to fight 2 ozekis, the Youzuna and Atamafuji. But if he beats 3 or all of them, his promotion to Yokozuna will be well deserved.
He's been dealing with a lot of injuries. November was more in line with the rest of 2024 after he got hurt; his twelve wins in September is starting to look like the real surprise.
Kirishima's sumo is so smart! I know sports don't really care too much for "what-ifs", but I can imagine him having a Yokozuna run of his own, should he not had an injury which dragged throughout the year. What a loss for the ozeki bundle... Now that I think about it, Takayasu had the same aura around him - only thing that realistically could stop the man was his condition. Say what you want, but on a good day Takayasu is THE prime oshi fighter at the moment in the division, period. Sumo truly is the sport of broken hopes and knees and backs.
Hoshoryu looked better than Kotozakura in their last match. Hoshoryu slipped, as multiple people did during that tournament. Kotozakura even said in his post fight interview that he didnt even know how he won. Hoshoryu just has terrible luck, and he seems to know it lol
@@Grrrrrgfifj go watch some Asashoryu, Hakuho, Terunofuji clips.. There are always a couple of lucky matches. It's simply part of the game. Hoshoryu grabbed Onosato's arm and pulled him out of the ring to save himself from falling. Call it luck or smarts. Whatever you call it, it gets the W
Regardless, neither one of them can afford to come with some 9 and 6 bullshit. Nephew can't let guys make him slip, and Grandson needs to focus on consistency instead of making sure his corner pose is perfect.
I would like both to get good records but its going to be a "barn burner"! Terunofuji, Takerufuji and Onosato are going to spoil and chance for the Yoko run....As soon as you lose more than twice, that's the end of the run.
Practice is just practice. If Hoshoryu is the one to pop off, a lot of people will say the huge winning percentage in training was a sign, but it rarely works out that way. It's just as likely Koto was working on stuff and didn't care about winning, whereas Hoshoryu was specifically trying to get in a winning flow. We'll see how it goes!
I like your analysis. I disagree with Hoshoryu getting on 10%. You are clearly much more knowlegable than I am in terms of the sport mechanics, but imo Hoshoryu's attitude might tip the scale. I think he had the best/most consistent of result of the top 4 guys *in the pre basho trainnig*. My guess is that this basho he will be laser focused. Thanks SumoSpiffy
Broadly speaking, if someone can earn 26 wins in two bashos, win one, and get a jun-yusho in the other, they're a pretty good candidate for yokozuna. Sometimes you have a tournament that would normally win, but someone pops off even harder; that's what happened to Hoshoryu in November. The yokozuna council essentially acknowledged that by declaring both are being considered for yokozuna, depending on what happens in January. All this does mean, however, that Kotozakura might earn yokozuna with a jun-yusho as long as he gets enough wins, but Hoshoryu absolutely must win the tournament.
It's Teru's decision to retire, but it's been long believed that he'd be happy to walk away as soon as someone takes the crown. He'd probably have retired after his last yusho, at the latest, if he wasn't intent on staying on as long as possible to make sure the sport always has an active yokozuna.
Hoshoryu will drop out on day 6 with an injury. Kotozaukra will lose his first two bouts. But then win remaining bouts to claim yoko Onosato has a horrid tournament and gets a losing record. Takerufuji takes yusho Teru bows out injured then announces retirement.
You might be underselling Hoshoryu's chances a little, but not much. I do think you're overselling Koro's. Partly because I think 12 wins without the Yusho is unlikely to get him there.
Think both Kotozakura & Hoshoryu aren't genuine Yokozuna candidates. Koto lacks aggression & a winning consistency while Hoshoryu has the aggression but has problems with the big guys. Also, he relies a great deal on throws & techniques to win. But with the big guys, it's almost impossible to throw them. Most of the time, it's more of pushing & thrusting to get the oshidashi win. Hoshoryu hasn't got the physique of a big sumo wrestler. On the other hand, Koto has the big physique of a big sumo wrestler but doesn't have the aggression or the mental strength. He reminds me very much of Ichinojo - a very big sumo wrestler but lacks a winning mentality. He seemed stuck within his comfort zone unwilling to step out of it. Another example was Hokuseiho - he had the physical attributes but performed very lackadaisical on the dohyo. Until the truth came out - he was far more interested in bullying his fellow sumo wrestlers. Also despite having Hakuho as his senpai, Hokuseiho didn't exhibit much skills on the dohyo. Think the long shot for Yokozuna is Onasato. He's got the size (similar to Terunofuji), the right amount of aggression & basically, he is still very young. Another 3 Yokozuna probables would be Atamifuji (error prone but high potential); Takerufuji (aka chicken legs, weak ankles) & Gonoyama (a Takakeisho clone). Hakuoho is also one probable but has a long term shoulder injury. Should he stay healthy - he could be one with a shot at Yokozuna.
I don't think Hoshoryu should be Yokozuna. Maybe if he goes undefeated or something but the guy hasn't won a Basho in more than a year, right? Last year seemed like a pretty open year as well and he didn't win any of them? I haven't been watching Sumo that long so I'm not sure the precedents but he doesn't seem like a Yokozuna to me.
How now Spiffykins? 😂 Well done to our Nephew! So happy for him, he comes across as a good egg.
Thank you for the great video, it really helped plot a chart through the basho.
What a finish. I'm making the instant banzuke now, and I've got some comments on how he still managed the promotion. Full props to him, though, for really looking the part this tournament.
@sumospiffysbarandgrill I still find him a little weak with people he should beat, but I love the fact that he comes across as a little over-aggressive because he's not quite confident in himself yet. I look forward to him coming into himself flowering as Yokozuna.
Feel sorry for Koto, he's had a horrible time, I hope he can still make it. I would love to know your thoughts on that.
@@Songbirdstress Not much to say about Koto until and unless we get some report on what was going on with him. He was obviously hurting, and it was probably his knee, but he's been wrapping that for a while. If we don't hear anything, it's hard to say what to expect until at least we start getting training reports leading up to March.
@@sumospiffysbarandgrill But can he still make Yokuzuna? Absent injury?
bro just got thrown again lol
Cant overstate how good a content these breakdowns are... fun fun fun! (so errm good job you as always!)
In general fully agree with everything. Will note about Hoss though that his willingness to thwart POWAAAA is a trend from about july onward, which is also when he started breaking that "vanishing" tachiai once a bash (where he just seems to appear out of no where behind a fool and drop him in a blink). But he seems to get a lot more straight up "i r stronk' pushes at the tachiais in general now. There's also the stuff like straight up lifting kiri this last bash which i cant remember him pulling off ever. So thats to say he seem to genuinely go more for straight power as a tactic now and not just a one time gimmick - so there's hope there.
With that being said yeah cant see him get 13 in a world where all big pounders are healthy and playing.... lets hope he'll make the basho fun for all though
This guy praising koto and look at koto now 😂😂
I mean, if a guy's hurt, a guy's hurt. Super unfortunate it happened now.
Awesome work Spiffy!
Holy fking shit, thank you!
dang this is a great video, i justed got into sumo so now im subscribed!
That was an astounding breakdown. I know the odds are against him but Nephew has had an astounding series of practice bouts. Apparently yeeting everyone that steps in front of him. He seems hyper motivated and Clubber Lang level hungry for gis chance. Can't wait to see if it translates to the dohyo.
I still believe. He is rounding out into his bigger body and seems to have the sharpest spear when it comes to attitude and presence. Onosato is nearly a shoe-in for eventual promotion to the rope, but his mental is still not quite there. I just have that fight in the dog feeling about Hoshoryu this basho, but he has had first week letdowns so many times, we will see if he has truly turned the corner. I just wish I could watch this basho, theres so much on the line this time.
Loving the Don Don-style play by play.
i love these videos thank you. really hyped for this basho
As always, a totally riveting and flawless analysis. Your incisive hard work multiplies my watching enjoyment tenfold come tournament time.
I sure hope Terun dominates like he used to and we have a playoff between him and an ozeki. I'm rooting for Koto but a four-way playoff between him and the Ozekis would make this a legendary tournament.
The thumbnail is best !!! Nice video, thanks for this!!
Good breakdown, Hoshoryu can win if he shows that his spirit is still has high as November...mongolian blood boiling !
One thing everyone is discounting Nephew’s motivation and chip on his shoulder. Everyone is saying he isn’t going to make Yoko. So you know he is highly motivated now. But on the other hand, you can’t measure that either.
Absolutely brilliant analysis. Bravo
You should list Shodai as a threat. Just to be sure. You never know what will happens and our lord will rise again to be the last hurdle.
I love how you are underestimating Hoshoryu. You are going to be eating your words because Nephew is coming for the rope!!
"Waka Deux, Waka prime" - lol. Love it
Thanks SumoSpiffy
As a Hoshoryu fan, I agree with everything you've said. I hope he can continue to take this step up and not revert back to always trying to throw. He set a good foundation in November and I hope he continues to build off of that.
Consistently the best and most entertaining sumo analysis on youtube.
Great job man ....please keep them coming
I'd say 65% Koto, 25% Hosho, 5% both, and 5% neither. I love Nephew, but I gotta acknowledge his weaknesses.
5% neither?
@@fishingnightmaresof both Teru and Onosato are in form, yeah.
80% neither...
Thank you for posting these breakdown videos
Thanks for the vid, man! Love the great work.
I’ve been liking the straightforward sumo we’ve been seeing from nephew lately.
I have a soft spot for nephew, so I pull for him, but Teru is the boss, period. If he stays in, he wins, that's that.
Bruh Hoshoryu all the way
Excellent analysis :D
Think I’ve changed my fantasy sumo picks for the ozeki/yoko every day this week
One important detriment to Kotozakura this tournament: he seems to have partied hard after his first Yusho. From recent practice bouts vs other Sanyaku it seems that he is not back in form yet, and may be in terrible form compared to Hoshoryu.
Excellent breakdown and analysis. We have to remember in November there was the no mada that mattered against Abi.
My brain says to pick Onosato, Koto is the safe pick, but my heart wants to pick Hoshoryu. I'm going with my heart. 2025 is the year of Nephew!
It's going to be an exciting year for sumo.
Great breakdown; but as a Hoshoryu fan, I hope you're wrong! But I agree he's clearly the underdog.
Will be an interesting year!
Kotozakura is actually extremely easy to beat once you get used to exploit his obvious sumo flaws. Full body parries are needed against him and once you negate his shoving techniques, he gets widely open to every counterattack strategy you can come up with...
Hoshoryuy is a tough nut to crack... Once he ditches his overall reliance of throws , he becomes completely unpredictable.
My prediction for this basho - Onosato will win it and make Yokozuna in March.
I was hoping you would dig into Hoshoryu’s technique shift! The main thing that gives me more confidence in his chances this time is specifically how well he’s been at improving his yorikiri techniques the last few months. Practice is absolutely different from game time, but if his yorikiri game is anywhere close to how it looked at the YDC soken, he’s got a chance of surprising people.
Do you think the all-stable practice sessions before tournaments are good predictors of the tourneys? Because Hoshoryu was a freight train in those sessions. In one of them he beat Koto 8-1, which apparently was his best ever practice result against him. He also beat Onosato 8-6. He was fighting like a man possessed.
They're better than nothing, but no, they're not good predictors. It would be a waste of time if the top guys just went all out with their best stuff in practice bouts. They try different things, and if those ideas don't work, the numbers look bad. But they go back to their primary ideas when it counts.
It’s worth keeping in mind that Hoshoryu and Kotozakura had 9 practice matches last week and Hoshoryu won 8 of them.
Thanks for the great analysis and no bla-bla!💪💪💪
Hshoryu and this throws 🤩🤩he is improving
My heart says nephew but my head says grandson (not Oho).
Great review. Thanks
I am a fan of Koto since he was kid, but I have to admit he still lack the power and style as a Yokozuna. Hoshoryu is ready for the title, not only adding his weight, aggressive tactics but the attitude. There is something out of control, that is JSA might prefer the Japanese Yokozuna.
It's hard to see Hoshoryu as a Yokozuna when he constantly loses to people he shouldn't have. He also struggles against the real big guys because they are just too wide to get over your hip easily. He did look really good last tournament, but once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and only when he does it three times will I start to believe.
I feel koto is about 90% of his full potential. But nephew is about 75% of his full potential. Hard to see koto getting much stronger without significantly increasing weight which may hurt his mobility but nephew is only getting bigger n stronger by the day. Nephew needs to use more leg trips and not rely on throws until he’s stronger. Teru will most likely pull out midway if he has more than 3 losses. Onosato has the most potential for Yoko because of his size but not sure if he has drive to reach the next level and truly dominate. Maybe if kirishima gets his act together he might be up in the mix again
Yokozuna Hoshoryu FTW!
You should watch Ozeki's last training session
Training sessions are practice. Hoshoryu's been kicking ass, so maybe that helps him start well, but they're generally a poor indicator of how guys finish.
Your breakdown of Kiri makes me wonder what happened to him in the last basho . He seemed distracted and performed far below of what he is capable of.
My heart really wants to pick Hoshoryu, but my mind picks Kotozakura , since Hoshoryu has to fight 2 ozekis, the Youzuna and Atamafuji. But if he beats 3 or all of them, his promotion to Yokozuna will be well deserved.
He's been dealing with a lot of injuries. November was more in line with the rest of 2024 after he got hurt; his twelve wins in September is starting to look like the real surprise.
Kirishima's sumo is so smart! I know sports don't really care too much for "what-ifs", but I can imagine him having a Yokozuna run of his own, should he not had an injury which dragged throughout the year. What a loss for the ozeki bundle... Now that I think about it, Takayasu had the same aura around him - only thing that realistically could stop the man was his condition. Say what you want, but on a good day Takayasu is THE prime oshi fighter at the moment in the division, period. Sumo truly is the sport of broken hopes and knees and backs.
Hoshoryu looked better than Kotozakura in their last match. Hoshoryu slipped, as multiple people did during that tournament. Kotozakura even said in his post fight interview that he didnt even know how he won. Hoshoryu just has terrible luck, and he seems to know it lol
You’re overestimating Koto and underestimating Hosh.
Hoshoryu looked strongest over the first 14 days of November.
@@Bullypulpityou definitely weren’t watching Hosho had 2 near loss against Onosato and Atamifuji he barely made it to the last day with one loss😂
@@Bullypulpiteven against Kotozakura if he would have sliped he would have probably one
If Hoshoryu can stay healthy my money is on him👍
@@Grrrrrgfifj go watch some Asashoryu, Hakuho, Terunofuji clips.. There are always a couple of lucky matches. It's simply part of the game. Hoshoryu grabbed Onosato's arm and pulled him out of the ring to save himself from falling. Call it luck or smarts. Whatever you call it, it gets the W
Miracle acheived
Regardless, neither one of them can afford to come with some 9 and 6 bullshit. Nephew can't let guys make him slip, and Grandson needs to focus on consistency instead of making sure his corner pose is perfect.
Firstly terunofuji is in his prime, and secondly surely Onosato will take over anyway.
I think we have very different definitions of "prime".
I would like both to get good records but its going to be a "barn burner"! Terunofuji, Takerufuji and Onosato are going to spoil and chance for the Yoko run....As soon as you lose more than twice, that's the end of the run.
kotu beated hoshuru one time in 9 bouts in the last training session ! could that be an indication for something or not ..genuinely asking !
Practice is just practice. If Hoshoryu is the one to pop off, a lot of people will say the huge winning percentage in training was a sign, but it rarely works out that way. It's just as likely Koto was working on stuff and didn't care about winning, whereas Hoshoryu was specifically trying to get in a winning flow. We'll see how it goes!
@@sumospiffysbarandgrill thanx man that was helpful
I like your analysis. I disagree with Hoshoryu getting on 10%. You are clearly much more knowlegable than I am in terms of the sport mechanics, but imo Hoshoryu's attitude might tip the scale. I think he had the best/most consistent of result of the top 4 guys *in the pre basho trainnig*. My guess is that this basho he will be laser focused.
Thanks SumoSpiffy
Hoshoryu 💪
Kirishema is amazing.
I thought it was needed two bashos in a row to be a Yokozuna, so how Hoshoryu can be a contender ?
Broadly speaking, if someone can earn 26 wins in two bashos, win one, and get a jun-yusho in the other, they're a pretty good candidate for yokozuna. Sometimes you have a tournament that would normally win, but someone pops off even harder; that's what happened to Hoshoryu in November. The yokozuna council essentially acknowledged that by declaring both are being considered for yokozuna, depending on what happens in January.
All this does mean, however, that Kotozakura might earn yokozuna with a jun-yusho as long as he gets enough wins, but Hoshoryu absolutely must win the tournament.
@@sumospiffysbarandgrill Thanks for the response
Koto looking bad...already lost to Kiri. Daiesho 3 1, lost to Oho...already lost to Abi...
❤😘
Day 8: do we agree, Hosho is done? I'm going for Takeru for the basho. Sad to see Koto in a black belt 😢
I started typing a response, but I think I'm going to make it today's post.
@sumospiffysbarandgrill Hosho is like the March kid, always younger than the others. He's my fav, so I hope you disagree. ;)
why would they retire terunofuji lol there could be more than one yokozuna at a time
It's Teru's decision to retire, but it's been long believed that he'd be happy to walk away as soon as someone takes the crown. He'd probably have retired after his last yusho, at the latest, if he wasn't intent on staying on as long as possible to make sure the sport always has an active yokozuna.
Koto isn't getting it, Hoah won't get it now even if he wins out with today as his single loss.
Desperate for a native
Koto is clearly hurt.
kotozakura's chance of making yokozuna is not more than %25 imo.
Neither...
Hoshoryu will drop out on day 6 with an injury.
Kotozaukra will lose his first two bouts. But then win remaining bouts to claim yoko
Onosato has a horrid tournament and gets a losing record.
Takerufuji takes yusho
Teru bows out injured then announces retirement.
You might be underselling Hoshoryu's chances a little, but not much. I do think you're overselling Koro's. Partly because I think 12 wins without the Yusho is unlikely to get him there.
Next yokozuna will be Onosato 💯
Think both Kotozakura & Hoshoryu aren't genuine Yokozuna candidates. Koto lacks aggression & a winning consistency while Hoshoryu has the aggression but has problems with the big guys. Also, he relies a great deal on throws & techniques to win. But with the big guys, it's almost impossible to throw them. Most of the time, it's more of pushing & thrusting to get the oshidashi win. Hoshoryu hasn't got the physique of a big sumo wrestler.
On the other hand, Koto has the big physique of a big sumo wrestler but doesn't have the aggression or the mental strength. He reminds me very much of Ichinojo - a very big sumo wrestler but lacks a winning mentality. He seemed stuck within his comfort zone unwilling to step out of it.
Another example was Hokuseiho - he had the physical attributes but performed very lackadaisical on the dohyo. Until the truth came out - he was far more interested in bullying his fellow sumo wrestlers. Also despite having Hakuho as his senpai, Hokuseiho didn't exhibit much skills on the dohyo.
Think the long shot for Yokozuna is Onasato. He's got the size (similar to Terunofuji), the right amount of aggression & basically, he is still very young.
Another 3 Yokozuna probables would be Atamifuji (error prone but high potential); Takerufuji (aka chicken legs, weak ankles) & Gonoyama (a Takakeisho clone). Hakuoho is also one probable but has a long term shoulder injury. Should he stay healthy - he could be one with a shot at Yokozuna.
Hoshoryu is a spoilt baby who, like his uncle, brings the sport into disrepute with his terrible attitude and behaviour.
I don't think Hoshoryu should be Yokozuna. Maybe if he goes undefeated or something but the guy hasn't won a Basho in more than a year, right? Last year seemed like a pretty open year as well and he didn't win any of them? I haven't been watching Sumo that long so I'm not sure the precedents but he doesn't seem like a Yokozuna to me.