Hawaii-born sumo champion Akebono Taro dies at the age of 54 in Japan

By STEPHEN WADE and AUDRY MCAVOY
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Hawaii-born Akebono Taro, one of the greats of sumo wresting and a former grand champion, has died. He was 54. He was the first foreign-born wrestler to reach the level of “yokozuna” — or grand champion — in Japan. At the prime of his career he was a real giant, reported at the time to weigh 500 pounds and standing 6-feet-8. He was born Chad Rowan and moved to Tokyo in the late 1980s and won his first grand championship in 1993. Akebono was an 11-time grand tournament winner and he retired in 2001.