Takakeisho bounced back from his first loss at the November Grand Sumo Tournament by beating rank-and-filer Myogiryu on Tuesday to keep a share of the lead at the 15-day meet.
The last remaining ozeki in competition at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan fended off some hard hits from the No. 5 maegashira in the final bout of Day 10 before slapping him down to the clay and improving to 9-1.
The odds had been heavily in favor of Takakeisho, who defeated Myogiryu (3-7) for the 11th time in as many top-level matchups in his quest for a second title and first since the 2018 meet in November.