Hawaiian-born sumo wrestling star Akebono Taro
has died at the age of 54 due to heart failure.
On Wednesday night,
news broke that Akebono had died in a hospital in Tokyo. Born
Chadwick Haheo Rowan, Akebono was raised in his home state of
Hawaii and competed in various sports including dabbling in sumo
wrestling when he was young. While checking in as one of the
largest sumo practitioners in the sport’s history, measuring
6-foot-8 and well over 500 pounds, this proved to his advantage as
he won multiple championships over the years. His sumo career
culminated in his earning the rank of yokozuna in 1993, where he
became the first non-Japanese wrestler to reach the pinnacle of the
sport.
As he competed at the top echelon of the sport, he moved to Japan
in 1996, where he became a Japanese citizen and changed his name to
Akebono Taro. He retired from sumo wrestling in 2001 due to injury,
and he began to transition to other sports. Akebono joined the
kickboxing world in 2003, where he famously fought Bob Sapp at K-1
Premium 2003 Dynamite!! That event in Nagoya, Japan, drew a
rating
of 42.5 in the country, accounting for nearly 54 million
viewers, or almost 43% of the entire nation.
The other combat sports careers for Akebono did not go as well as
his time as a sumo wrestler, as the Hawaiian racked up a combined
MMA and kickboxing record of 1-13. Akebono made his MMA debut in
2004 against Royce Gracie,
and the Brazilian landed an omoplata on him in the first round.
Three subsequent outings in 2005 and 2006 did not go his way, as
Bobby
Ologun prevailed via decision while Don Frye and
Paulo Cesar
Silva tapped him. His lone win as a pro came in the kickboxing
ring in 2005, as he picked up a decision victory over Nobuaki
Kakuda in a one-night tournament. Akebono lost later that night
to Hong Man
Choi, starting an unsuccessful trilogy with the “Techno
Goliath.”
In addition to kickboxing and MMA, the Hawaiian shifted gears to
professional wrestling for over a decade, working with
organizations including a brief stint in the WWE along with
stretches with New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Akebono last fought in 2015, dropping a technical decision to Sapp
in their rematch 12 years in the making. His final wrestling match
took place in 2017. A few years later, Akebono succumbed to a heart
problem, one that ended up putting him in coma and placed him a
wheelchair until his passing.