Asashōryū Akinori (real name: Dolgorsürengiin Dagvadorj), one of the most successful Sumo wrestlers in Japanese history, announced his retirement today. There was talk that he was about to be banned from the sport, because of a recent skirmish he was involved in with a man on the street. As this article mentions, Asashoryu is quoted as saying,

“I have caused a lot of trouble but I have no regrets about my sumo.”

What he likely does regret is having an altercation with a man outside a Japanese bar last Month, as the 150-kg giant was in the middle of a big tournament. Reports say he left a man with a busted lip and broken nose.

But things apparently didn’t get out of hand until the champion refused to apologize to the victim.

He has also been involved in a number of other controversies and scandals, as highlighted on his Wikipedia page:

Asashōryū was criticised for injuring Toyonoshima during some intense practice sessions just before the May 2007 tournament. Some other high-profile wrestlers have avoided training with Asashōryū, fearing injury.

The May 2008 tournament ended on a controversial note, when Asashōryū gave Hakuhō a shove after the bout was already over, and the two glared at each other.The following day the head of the Sumo Association saw both yokozuna separately and gave each a strict warning.

In July 2008 he used his position as head of the wrestlers union to call for all salaried rikishi to be given a pay rise of ten percent (which would be their first pay rise since 2001) to compensate for the rising cost of food and fuel. The Sumo Association were reportedly unimpressed with his remarks.

In August 2009 he was criticised for refusing to board a bus transporting wrestlers to training on the summer tour, saying he did not want to risk catching the H1N1 flu strain which has infected several rikishi.

In both the January and September 2009 tournaments, Asashōryū was chastised by some members of the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee for raising his arms in celebration after winning his championship bout, behavior which they saw as unbecoming of a yokozuna. Both his stablemaster and Asashōryū himself later apologized for these incidents.

It will be interesting to see how he is remembered in the sport, as he clearly was quite a controversial yet massively successful star.