The once invincible yokozuna is human after all.
With the wind sucked from his sails after winning his record-tying seventh consecutive title in anticlimactic fashion, Hakuho was sent to his second defeat at the hands of veteran ozeki Kaio on the final day of the May Technical Examination Tournament on Sunday.
After his closest challenger Tochinoshin was defeated by Mongolian ozeki Harumafuji in an earlier bout to fall to a third loss that effectively decided the championship, the normally razor-sharp Hakuho paid for a sluggish jump at the faceoff at Ryogoku Kokugikan.