Kotoei Mitsuru

Kotoei Mitsuru (Born 1958 as Mitsuru Rindfleisch - Died 2018) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Fussa, Japan. Born to an American father and a Japanese mother, he was introduced to sumo as a child, but did not consider joining the sport until he was recruited by Sadogatake-oyakata in 1974 and promptly joined his stable at the age of 16. Long considered a possible future yokozuna, he was a late bloomer, failing to score a winning record in his first two attempts at juryo and not reaching the highest makuuchi division until 8 years after his debut, he suffered from injuries which sent him back to the third highest makushita division, and he was not able to establish himself in the top division until his late 20s. he spent the next part of his career moving up and down the maegashira ranks, before winning a yusho in november 1989 at the rank of Maegashira 4. he achieved the bare minimum promotion requirements for ozeki, and did the same with yokozuna, finally being promoted after a record 100 tournaments. only achieving one winning score as a yokozuna, he was the only yokozuna to "achieve" a losing 6-9 record while ranked a yokozuna. He retired in November 1992, just three years after his surprise yusho, he became hanakago-oyakata after his retirement and was forced out of the sumo association after being found guilty of multiple accounts of tax fraud in 2012. He died in prison of a heart attack in 2018 at the age of 60. he famously shared a prison cell with fellow retired rikishi Asahimaru. He is often considered the worst yokozuna of all time.