Taiho won a record 32 top-division championships before Hakuho surpassed him. His achievement stood for decades and made him one of professional sumo’s defining champions.
Born Ivan Boryshko in 1940, Taiho was the son of a Ukrainian father and Japanese mother. He entered professional sumo in 1956 and reached the sport’s highest rank, yokozuna, in 1961 at age 21.
Taiho dominated the 1960s, winning 32 makuuchi championships between 1960 and 1971. His run included six consecutive tournament victories from 1966 to 1967, a major benchmark in modern sumo history.
Hakuho eventually broke Taiho’s championship record in 2015. Taiho is still often discussed alongside Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji as one of the sport’s greatest yokozuna, but his total is no longer the all-time record.