Early Career
Chiyonofuji began his career in September 1970. He reached the second highest jūryō division in November 1974, and was promoted to the top makuuchi division in September 1975. However, he lasted for only one tournament before being demoted again, and subsequent injuries led to him falling back to the unsalaried ranks. He finally won promotion back to the top division in January 1978. After he got a fighting spirit prize (Kantō-shō) in May, he reached komusubi (the fourth-highest rank) for the first time. During his early top division career he was often compared with another lightweight wrestler who was popular with sumo fans, Takanohana I. Takanohana had first come across Chiyonofuji whilst on a regional tour and encouraged him to give sumo a try. Later, he also advised Chiyonofuji to give up smoking, which helped him put on some extra weight.
In 1979, due to his shoulder trouble, Chiyonofuji briefly fell to the second division, but he soon came back to the top division. Encouraged by his stablemaster, he began to rely not only on throwing techniques, which increased the risk of reinjuring his shoulders, but also on gaining ground quickly and forcing out his opponents. Showing much more consistency, he earned three kinboshi (i.e. defeated yokozuna in three regular matches) in total in March and July 1980 tournaments, where he also got technique prizes (Ginō-shō). He fought again as a komusubi in May and September tournaments, in the latter of which he won 10 matches in the top division for the first time. He reached sekiwake (the third-highest rank), and stayed at this rank for only two tournament. As a sekiwake, he scored 11-4 in November, and in January 1981 he scored 14-1, losing only one regular match to dominating yokozuna Kitanoumi, and then defeated him in the subsequent playoff to win a top makuuchi division title for the first time. This earned him promotion to ōzeki (the second-highest rank). While making these speedy rises, he also got technique prizes in three tournaments in a row to that in January, where he also received an outstanding performance prize (Shukun-shō). Also as an ōzeki he scored well in the following three tournaments to July 1981, where he again defeated Kitanoumi and won his second title. After this victory, he was promoted to yokozuna.
Read more about this topic: Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
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