Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2010
Exit the “Mad Mongolian,” enter the, er, “Estimable Estonian”? If this was pro wrestling, the marketing guys would be out the door. Whoever heard of a fearful grappler with the moniker “the nice bloke”? But what doesn’t work in pro wrestling, boxing or even soccer (remember Norman “Bite Your Legs” Hunter?) might prove to be a boon for sumo. Because Baruto is the man of the moment in a sport that’s desperate for a positive, clean-cut role model.
Of course, sumo never really understood the dynamics of the Hakuho-Asashoryu rivalry. Sumo fans did, but the elders just tut-tutted and hoped Asashoryu would injure himself or bugger off back to Mongolia. So when he provided the rope with which to hang himself (courtesy of a drunken altercation in January), the former yokozuna was out the door in a flash—to the relief of sumo’s cretinously conservative council.
In fact, what they were saying goodbye to was one of the sport’s greatest rivalries. Fellow Mongolian Hakuho certainly realized this when he broke down and cried on hearing the news of his adversary’s retirement. The absence of a great fighter such as Asashoryu would, of course, dilute the value of his own achievements. He—and sumo—needed another star rival, and quick.
By coincidence, Baruto, the “Battler of the Baltics” (all these names are trademarked, by the way) decided 2010 would be a good year in which to live up to his potential. The 198cm, 188kg man-mountain fought to a 12-3 record in the January tournament, which was significant less for the numbers themselves than the fact that he finally got to beat a yokozuna: Hakuho. In March, Baruto did even better, finishing 14-1, his only loss being a close-fought decision against the Mongolian, who won the tournament with a 15-0 record. Days later, he was promoted to sumo’s second highest rank of ozeki.
These performances have thrust Baruto into the limelight and offered the sumo world a chance to crown its first blond-haired, European yokozuna. Not for nothing is he called the “David Beckham of the sumo world” (or was that “Leonardo DiCaprio”?).
It was music to sumo officials’ ears when Baruto proclaimed: “I want to be cheerful and be an ozeki that can live up to the expectations of the fans.” At a luncheon event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan last month, he failed to dent his nice-guy image, charming the media and other guests—not to mention, one assumes, the chaps at the Japan Sumo Association.
“If I can’t make yokozuna this year, then I intend to make it next year,” he gushed. “I’m really not sure, but I just plan to work really hard.”
Baruto’s stablemaster, Onoe, was also a guest at the FCCJ event, where he confirmed that the former nightclub bouncer is no fake nice guy. “He is friendly and gentle and he shouldn’t change that. He has to win to get promoted, but outside the ring, I don’t want him to forget to smile.” Strewth, there goes my trademarked “Big Blond Baltic Bastard” label (and I don’t think “Big Bland Baltic Bastard” is going to cut it either).
The fear lurking in the dark corridors of Japan’s sports newspapers is that Baruto is the real deal. He doesn’t beat people up, he doesn’t get unruly and drunk, and he doesn’t attack other wrestlers’ cars. Instead, he trains hard, wears a constant smile and goes home to his loving wife every day.
If he maintains his current form and becomes a solid rival to Hakuho, the “Bouncing Balt” could just be sumo’s savior.
May Grand Sumo Tournament
Until May 23, 9am. ¥2,100-¥14,300. Ryogoku Kokugikan. Tel: 0570-029310.
