Amūru Mitsuhiro

{{Short description|Russian sumo wrestler}} {{Infobox sumo wrestler |image=File:Amuru Mitsuhiro20160522.jpg | name =Amūru Mitsuhiro<br/>阿夢露光大 | birth_name = Nikolai Yuryevich Ivanov | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|8|25}} | birth_place = Lesozavodsk, Primorsky Krai, Russia | height = {{height|meters=1.92}} | weight = {{convert|132|kg|lb|abbr=on}} | heya = Onomatsu | rank = | record = 411-339-68 | debut = May, 2002 | highestrank = Maegashira 5 (November 2015) | retireddate = May 2018 | yushos = 1 (Sandanme)<br>1 (Jonidan) | prizes = | goldstars = | update = March 23, 2018 }} {{nihongo|'''Amūru Mitsuhiro'''|阿夢露光大||born August 25, 1983 as '''Nikolai Yuryevich Ivanov'''}} is a former professional sumo wrestler from Lesozavodsk, Primorsky Krai, Russia. After an initial influx of Russian wrestlers from the early 2000s, he was the last ethnic Russian in top level sumo. He made his debut in May 2002 and, after a serious knee injury in 2012 sent him down the rankings, reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in November 2014. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 5. He had nine tournaments ranked in the top division, but finished his career in the third highest ''makushita'' division.

==Early life and sumo background== Ivanov had no exposure to sumo in early life, though he was active in boxing during his student years. Later, his brother-in-law, who was Japanese, recommended he give sumo a try. With the help of the professional wrestler Akira Taue he was able to make a contact with former sekiwake Masurao, who was the owner of Onomatsu stable. He came to Japan and joined sumo together with the two Russian brothers who would join Kitanoumi stable and take the ring names Rohō and Hakurozan.<ref>『Sumo』Magazine January 2012 p. 32</ref> His ring name is derived from the Amur River in his region of Russia, and the three Chinese characters that comprise it are the first character in Onomatsu, the character for dream to represent Ivanov's dream of coming to Japan as a sumo wrestler, and the character used to represent Russia. The name was devised by the Japanese poet Daizaburō Nakayama.<ref>http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/chiba/kikaku/106/22.htm Connecting tradition, Onomatsu stable backs a dream - YOMIURI ONLINE</ref>

==Career== thumb|left|200px|Amūru during his jūryō debut in January 2012 Until he reached the ''sandanme'' division he advanced at a steady rate, but still being only around 90 kilograms with a tall thin build, his advance slowed and for the next four years he traveled back and forth between the ''sandanme'' and ''makushita'' divisions. The brothers Rohō and Hakurozan had by this time already become regulars in the salaried ranks. However, Amūru gradually started to put on weight and by 2008 had become a ''makushita'' regular. It was in this year that the other three ethnic Russian wrestlers (Wakanohō was the third) were expelled for cannabis use,<ref>{{cite news|title=Japan bans Russian sumo wrestlers|publisher=CNN|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/08/japan.sumo.ap/index.html|date=2008-09-08|accessdate=2014-10-05 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914163348/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/08/japan.sumo.ap/index.html |archivedate=2008-09-14}}</ref> leaving Amūru as the only ethnic Russian in professional sumo.

He worked his way slowly up through this division, but in July 2010 at his highest rank yet of ''makushita'' 8, he seriously injured his right knee, tearing ligaments against future top division wrestler Masunoyama and was out for the rest of the tournament. This would be the beginning of his injury troubles. He also missed the November 2010 and January 2011 tournaments due to the injury. He opted against surgery, fearing he would be out for so long that he would fall off the ''banzuke'' completely, and instead worked on rehabilitating his knee injury. He had fallen to the middle ranks of ''sandanme'' by the time he was able to return in May 2011, but managed a 6-1 record. In the following July 2011 tournament he won all seven of his bouts and a playoff to take the ''sandanme'' championship, the first of his career. This skyrocketed him back to his career best rank of ''makushita'' 8 for the September tournament where he achieved a 5-2 record. He followed this with a 6-1 record and a second chance at a championship before losing on the final day in a playoff against Shōsei.<ref name="database">{{cite web | author= | title=Amuru Mitsuhiro Rikishi Information | publisher=Sumo Reference | url=http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=1405 | date= | accessdate=2014-10-05}}</ref>

This record would allow him to finally be promoted to the professional ranks of ''jūryō'' for the January 2012 tournament. This achievement took him 57 tournaments, the second slowest promotion for a foreign born wrestler to the ''sekitori'' ranks after the Brazilian Wakaazuma who took 58 tournaments. His ''jūryō'' debut was impressive, as he only had one loss in the first 11 days. However, on the 12th day, in a loss to Kotoyūki, he seriously re-injured his right knee, and was out of the tournament. He had surgery on his knee in March of the same year, and then focused on rehabilitation. He would not return to the ring for the next five tournaments.

He dropped all the way to the ranks of ''jonidan'' by the time he was finally able to come back. His return was impressive however, as he chalked up a 7-0 perfect record and took the championship for the division. After this return, he had a strong showing in every subsequent tournament, never losing more than 2 bouts in 7, as he rose up again through the unsalaried ranks. He reached ''jūryō'' again in March 2014 and four consecutive winning tournaments, culminating in a 9-6 record at ''jūryō'' 1 saw him promoted to the ''makuuchi'' top division for the November 2014 tournament.<ref>http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/140129/mrt14012910110000-n1.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006122040/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/140129/mrt14012910110000-n1.htm |date=2014-10-06 }} After 17 tournaments a return to jūryō - MSN Sankei News 2014/1/29</ref> He could only manage five wins against ten losses in his ''makuuchi'' debut however, and was relegated back to the second division for the January 2015 tournament.

Amūru made an immediate return to the top division after securing eight wins at ''jūryō'' 1 and in May 2015 recorded his first winning score in ''makuuchi''. After two more winning records in July and September he reached his highest rank to date of ''maegashira'' 5 in the November tournament. He withdrew from the May 2016 tournament on the second day after suffering an injury, but returned from the seventh day. He ended the tournament with only three wins and was relegated to ''jūryō'' after a run of eight tournaments in the top division. He lost ''sekitori'' status after the January 2017 tournament when a 5–10 record at ''Jūryō'' 10 saw him demoted to ''makushita''.

==Retirement== Amūru announced his retirement at a press conference at the beginning of the May 2018 tournament, citing a left shoulder injury that had reduced his power.<ref name="nikkan">{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/201805150000183.html|title=引退阿夢露「幸せ」今後はスポーツトレーナー目指す (Amuru "happy" in retirement, aims to be sports trainer|date=15 May 2018|publisher=Nikkan Sports|language=Japanese|accessdate=15 May 2018}}</ref> His ''danpatsu-shiki'' was held on June 16, 2018. He said he had hoped to become a sports trainer.<ref name="nikkan"/>

==Fighting style== Amūru was a ''yotsu–sumo'' wrestler who preferred a ''hidari–yotsu'', or right hand outside and left hand inside grip on his opponent's ''mawashi''. His most common winning ''kimarite'' were ''yorikiri'' or force out (which accounted for over 40% of his wins), ''hatakikomi'' or slap down and ''okuridashi'' or rear push out.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sumo.or.jp/en/sumo_data/rikishi/profile?id=2485 |title=Amuru profile |work=日本相撲協会公式サイト |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308062151/http://www.sumo.or.jp/en/sumo_data/rikishi/profile?id=2485 |archivedate=2016-03-08 }}</ref>

==Personal life== In September 2020 the former Amūru was working in a gym in Chiba Prefecture, where he taught traditional sumo movements in both Russian and Japanese online. He had lost around {{convert|35|kg}} since his retirement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/09/02/sumo/sumo-health/|title=Let's address the elephant in the sumo ring|last=Gunning|first=John|date=2 September 2020|accessdate=2 September 2020}}</ref>

In July 2025 the former Amūru was arrested with an accomplice from Uzbekistan on suspicion of robbery and sexual assault, which was allegedly committed against a woman in her thirties at a karaoke bar in Tokyo.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-14 |title=大相撲元幕内阿夢露逮捕性的暴行を加え現金を奪ったか |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/shutoken-news/20250714/1000119585.html |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=NHK News Web |language=ja |archive-date=2025-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250714050850/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/shutoken-news/20250714/1000119585.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/57262|title=Ex-sumo top-tier wrestler Amuru arrested for sexual assault, robbery|date=14 July 2025|publisher=Kyodo News|access-date=20 July 2025}}</ref>

==Career record== {{Sumo record box start|Amūru Mitsuhiro<ref name="database"/>}} {{Sumo record year start link|2002}} {{Basho}} {{Basho}} {{Basho|MAEZUMOU}} {{Basho|jk|43|e|5|2}} {{Basho|jo|109|w|5|2}} {{Basho|jo|65|w|4|3}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2003}} {{Basho|jo|44|w|3|4}} {{Basho|jo|57|e|4|3}} {{Basho|jo|31|e|6|1}} {{Basho|sa|68|e|2|5}} {{Basho|jo|3|w|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|83|w|3|4}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2004}} {{Basho|sa|97|w|3|4}} {{Basho|jo|11|e|5|2}} {{Basho|sa|75|e|3|4}} {{Basho|sa|89|e|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|71|e|5|2}} {{Basho|sa|39|e|4|3}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2005}} {{Basho|sa|24|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|60|w|2|5}} {{Basho|sa|25|e|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|12|w|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|53|e|3|4}} {{Basho|sa|4|w|3|4}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2006}} {{Basho|sa|16|w|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|2|w|3|4}} {{Basho|sa|17|e|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|5|e|3|4}} {{Basho|sa|24|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|59|w|3|4}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2007}} {{Basho|sa|15|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|56|e|2|5}} {{Basho|sa|23|e|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|12|w|4|2|1}} {{Basho|sa|1|w|6|1}} {{Basho|ma|29|e|5|2}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2008}} {{Basho|ma|16|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|12|w|2|5}} {{Basho|ma|23|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|19|w|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|27|e|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|34|w|3|4}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2009}} {{Basho|ma|43|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|36|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|21|w|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|28|w|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|19|e|2|5}} {{Basho|ma|32|e|4|3}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2010}} {{Basho|ma|25|w|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|17|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|13|e|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|8|e|0|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|43|w|5|2}} {{Basho|KYUJO|rank=ma|r-no=28|tozai=e}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2011}} {{Basho|KYUJO|rank=sa|r-no=8|tozai=w}} {{Basho|CANCELLED|absent=0}} {{Basho|sa|68|w|6|1}} {{Basho|sa|3|w|7|0|P<br>Champion}} {{Basho|ma|8|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|2|w|6|1}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2012}} {{Basho|j|11|w|10|3|2}} {{Basho|KYUJO|rank=j|r-no=3|tozai=e}} {{Basho|KYUJO|rank=ma|r-no=3|tozai=e}} {{Basho|KYUJO|rank=ma|r-no=43|tozai=w}} {{Basho|KYUJO|rank=sa|r-no=23|tozai=w}} {{Basho|KYUJO|rank=sa|r-no=83|tozai=w}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2013}} {{Basho|jo|44|e|7|0<br>Champion}} {{Basho|sa|44|w|5|2}} {{Basho|sa|17|e|6|1}} {{Basho|ma|41|e|6|1}} {{Basho|ma|19|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|9|w|5|2}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2014}} {{Basho|ma|4|e|5|2}} {{Basho|j|13|e|8|7}} {{Basho|j|9|e|8|7}} {{Basho|j|6|e|10|5}} {{Basho|j|1|w|9|6}} {{Basho|m|14|e|5|10}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2015}} {{Basho|j|1|e|8|7}} {{Basho|m|16|e|7|8}} {{Basho|m|16|w|9|6}} {{Basho|m|10|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|7|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|5|e|4|11}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2016}} {{Basho|m|11|w|7|8}} {{Basho|m|11|w|7|8}} {{Basho|m|12|w|3|8|4}} {{Basho|j|5|w|9|6}} {{Basho|j|3|w|6|9}} {{Basho|j|7|e|7|8}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2017}} {{Basho|j|10|e|5|10}} {{Basho|ma|1|e|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|4|w|1|6}} {{Basho|ma|20|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|15|e|2|5}} {{Basho|ma|29|e|5|2}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start link|2018}} {{Basho|ma|18|w|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|24|w|2|5}} {{Basho|INTAI|rank=ma|r-no=39|tozai=e|absent=1}} {{Basho}} {{Basho}} {{Basho}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record box end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Goo Sumo|A=|2485}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amūru, Mitsuhiro}} Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Russian sumo wrestlers Category:Russian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Category:People from Lesozavodsk Category:Sportspeople from Primorsky Krai