Although they were fighting for fun, his ego was bruised and he vowed to continue sumo, eventually developing a passion for the sport as he became more and more involved in his club's activities.
[1] After graduating from high school, he joined Nihon University's sumo club, where he became the classmate of future makuuchi-ranked wrestler Takerufuji.
[3] There, he also won the title of student yokozuna in 2021, by defeating the reigning champion Hidetora Hanada at the All Japan College Championships.
[1] With this last amateur yokozuna title, Kawazoe finally decided to turn pro, as he was still eligible to enter professional sumo using the makushita tsukedashi system.
[10] Following a 5–2 record as West Makushita 1, Kawazoe earned a promotion to the jūryō division, along Yūma [ja] and Ukrainian Shishi,[11] despite a fracture in the back of his left foot.
[13] During the interview introducing the new jūryō wrestlers, the now Kihō expressed regret at having fallen behind the promotion records of his stablemate Hakuōhō, vowing to overtake him in the rankings.
[15] Speaking about this unusual situation, since wrestlers promoted to jūryō have their own competition mawashi custom-made, he explained that his silver shimekomi had only been delivered the day before the tournament, too late to use it.
"[16][17] On the seventh day of the tournament, Kihō faced amateur scene rival and Nishonoseki stable wrestler, Ōnosato, who fought in makushita.
Wounded during the fight, he had to be taken to the arena infirmary in a wheelchair,[21] before submitting a medical certificate and declaring himself kyūjō the next day; mentioning a lisfranc injury requiring a month's treatment.
[27] Despite his small stature of 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) tall and weighing 110 kg (240 lb), Kihō uses his momentum and flexible body as a weapon to perform a variety of techniques.
[13] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi