Beginning his professional career in May 1971, he was ranked in the top makuuchi division continuously from March 1979 to January 1992, and his record of 1170 consecutive bouts there is the second best in history after Takamiyama.
He wrestled for Taihō stable and after his retirement in May 1992 he worked there as a coach before leaving the Japan Sumo Association in 2008.
Upon his return to jūryō in March 1978 he adopted the shikona of Ōzutsu (literally "big cannon"; he was sometimes nicknamed "Top Gun").
Ōzutsu won the Fighting Spirit Prize in his second top division tournament in May 1979, and in July he defeated two yokozuna, Wakanohana and Mienoumi, the first of his ten career kinboshi.
He won his first two bouts against Chiyonofuji before the latter became a yokozuna, and earned two kinboshi from him in September 1984 and March 1986, but was defeated by him on every one of the 37 other occasions they met.
[1] He remained in the top division for 78 consecutive tournaments but was finally demoted in January 1992 after recording only a 4–11 score at maegashira 15.
[2] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi