The first Grand Sumo wrestling tournament ever to be staged outside Japan was brought to the Royal Albert Hall courtesy of the august father of this generation’s innovative Daily Mail chairman Lord Rothermere.
It has taken 34 years for the ancient rituals of the dhoyo to be performed abroad a second time and again London’s most venerated concert hall is the reinforced stage for the giants of the most religious discipline in combat sports, this time for five nights.
Vere Harmsworth, the second Viscount Rothermere, had dispatched me to Tokyo earlier in 1991 to report on the sumo and to persuade the Muhammad Ali of that mound of sacred earth to come out of his first few weeks of official retirement to take part in that historic occasion. That required sharing in the mountain of rice and stew which is the staple diet of these fighters.
The great Chiyonofuji agreed not only to fly over but to join me at lunch at Simpson’s In The Strand, the centuries-old temple to vast cuts of every meat which was also the first vaulted home to chess in Britain.
Sadly, that institution of a restaurant is currently closed, perhaps awaiting transformation into some kind of fusion eatery. But for more than a quarter of a century a photograph of that lunch hung on those oaken walls.
It showed Chiyonofuji in his regal robes surrounded by the famous silver trolleys, from which he devoured vast helpings of not only the roast of his choice but all of them: beef, lamb, pork, venison, turkey and even the heftiest of steak and kidney puddings.
The great Chiyonofuji agreed to join Jeff Powell for lunch at Simpson’s In The Strand
Daily Mail Sport’s Jeff Powell greets Chiyonofuji in 1991
For more than a quarter of a century a photograph of that lunch hung on those oaken walls
And he was one of the lightest of these wrestlers. At 120 kilos not much heavier than George Foreman at 118 kilos and our own world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis at 116.
In the idiom of our Premier League becoming a land of the giants, this week’s grapplers average 150 kilos.
Chiyonofuji relied on his speed of foot, hand and wit as well as highly developed techniques to dominate sumo through two decades and more than 1,000 championship fights with over 850 victories. Tickets to watch him even in his dotage and all those years ago went for £300. Seats this week range up to £2,000.
