Yokozuna Asashoryu knocked the daylights out of crowd favorite Takamisakari but grand champion Musashimaru suffered an embarrassing second straight defeat at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday.

Asashoryu, coming off a loss to giant killer Tochinonada on Monday, was in no mood for games with his komusubi rival in the final bout at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.

The Mongolian brawler, who had already injured Takamisakari's shoulder in a pre-tournament exchange, gave his opponent two hefty shoves to the throat before knocking him out of the ring to improve to 2-1.

Takamisakari, who hyped himself with his pre-bout chest banging antics, slipped to 1-2.