Rohō Yukio (born March 9, 1980, as Soslan Feliksovich Boradzov, , in Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in the Russian Federation) is a former sumo wrestler. The highest rank he achieved was komusubi. His younger brother is also a former sumo wrestler, under the name of Hakurozan. In September 2008 both were banned from the sport for life after testing positive for cannabis.
Career
Rohō began wrestling at the age of 16. At 18 he won the world junior freestyle championship. As his weight increased beyond 130 kg he was unable to continue wrestling, so he took up sumo at the age of 20. In 2001 he came third in the heavyweight class in the Sumo World Championships, and won the European championship.
He came to Japan in February 2002 with his brother, joining the stable of former Yokozuna Taihō (since transferred to Taihō's son-in-law, the former Takatōriki, and renamed Ōtake stable). His first appearance was in May 2002, and he won his first 19 bouts. He was promoted to jūryō in January 2004, then makuuchi for the September 2004 tournament. His result was 10–5 in this tournament, earning him the Fighting Spirit prize. He also achieved 10 wins in the November 2004 tournament, and by May 2005 reached maegashira 1, but suffered a losing tournament and so failed to reach sanyaku. In the next tournament, as a result of a leg injury, he only achieved 3 wins, with 8 losses and 4 absences. He won 8 bouts in the September tournament, then 10 in November (the same as his brother Hakurozan). In January 2006, ranked maegashira 2, he won 9 bouts and achieved promotion to east komusubi, the first Russian to reach this rank. In March of the same year he won only 4 bouts.
By the end of the sixth day of the July tournament he had achieved 4 wins and 2 losses. On the seventh day following a loss to Chiyotaikai, the two glared at each other and exchanged angry words. He later smashed a glass door of the bathroom and received a strong warning, but later assaulted two cameramen and was punished by suspension for three days. He returned on the 11th day to beat Kotoshōgiku, and went on to achieve a satisfactory 8–5–2 record for the tournament. In the next tournament, as M1, he achieved a good result of 10–5, returning to komusubi for November. Unusually, there were four komusubi in that tournament, as Aminishiki had achieved 11 wins in September, and Kisenosato and Kokkai had both achieved kachi-koshi.
After a poor 3–12 showing in January 2007 Rohō was demoted from komusubi. Back in the mid-maegashira ranks for March, he surprisingly failed to achieve a winning tournament, falling to his eighth defeat on the final day. Controversy continued to follow Rohō into the 2007 May tournament, where after a day one loss against Miyabiyama, Rohō claimed that he was not ready to start the bout and that it should have been declared a false start. However, neither the referee nor the judges intervened at the time and the result stood. In an interview after the match, Rohō questioned the referee's judgement. After criticism from the Sumo Association that such behaviour was not appropriate for a sumo wrestler, Rohō apologised. He ended the tournament with a solid 10–5 record. In July 2007, after winning his first three bouts, he injured his back and had to withdraw from the tournament. He remained in the middle maegashira ranks after that, and did not look like returning to sanyaku. He had to withdraw from the May 2008 tournament after injuring his back once again, but he had already attained eight wins.
He is a fan of Russian wrestler Fedor Emelianenko, and his interests include Russian cinema and music.
Fighting style
Roho was a yotsu-sumo specialist, who preferred a migi-yotsu, or left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. His favourite techniques were yorikiri (force out) and uwatenage (overarm throw), although he also relied heavily on henka (side stepping) and pull-downs. Hataki-komi, the slap-down, was his second most commonly used technique after yorikiri. Henka in particular is looked down upon by sumo purists, and Roho believed that his failure to receive a special prize from the Sumo Association in the March 2005 tournament, despite winning eleven bouts, was due to use of henka in his victory over Kotomitsuki.