Sumo’s New Star Ayes Ayes American after winning in London: “Yes I will be there!”

London – The biggest Sumo show in history Rockled London This week, highlighting more than 40 wrestlers in all 100 bouts with punches, surprising facial shocks and more quick injury throws. The final clash of the Grand Sumo Tournament was the battle of the Giants – Goliath with the only comparison being the smaller Goliath.

Colliding with a force of several tons and sending clay into the air, the 330-pound hoshonutsu holds a blue silk belt – mawashi – of 420-pound onosato daiki. Mfundvo carried the heavy man to the edge of the ring, then Hosheri powered him, racking up a perfect 5-0 record in 10 seconds. The 5000-strong crowd inside London’s sold-out Royal Albert Hall erupted in Cheers.

“I’m just happy that I got five days without injury,” Hosheri said in a whisper after claiming the championship medal.

He didn’t plan a celebration, but he told CBS News that he’s ready to go where his work takes him.

“If someone decides we’re going to do this in America, of course I’ll be there,” said the 26-year-old conventioneer.

For young American boys who watched and dreamed of entering the sacred ring of Sumo, his advice was based on self-restraint and endurance.

“You have to work hard to become a sumo wrestler if that’s your dream. Everyone has dreams – but only you can achieve them,” he said.

Sumo is a life of dedication. Wrestlers usually start training around 15 years old, the minimum age to join the heya, or stable, where they live full time and train full time for a long time and train full time under the road, a retired wrestler. To outsiders, sumo may look like a sport but in its practice, it is a way of life shaped by 1,500 years of tradition and discipline, centered on Shinto prayers for a good harvest.

London’s Royal Albert Hall – better known for the struggles of the Beatles, Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen than for the beats and the crowd of big muscle men – was transformed into a place of honor to show that.

“I’ve worked here for 11 years, and this is one of the most exciting weeks I’ve ever been a part of,” said David Gamble, head of the program at the hall, who gave CBS News a special, after CBS.

“We’ve had teams, craftsmen in the UK create this 1.5 ton iron roof,” he said, gesturing to the large roof hanging above reminiscent of a Shinto ring. “It’s more than the games … We had a blessing ceremony where the Sumo Association blessed the ring the same way they would do all their shows in Tokyo.”

He described several rows of red floor mats around the ring that were the most feared – and the most dangerous of all.

“You will have to stay focused because at any time there may be a punmu of 4000 sumo wrestlers carrying you, so there is no time to check your phone,” said Gambling. These seats are “more expensive, better and more dangerous.”

Big Wrestlers meant big things. The place brought 10 tons of clay to build a sacred ring – dohyō – and had to get a ton of rice. Athletes eat up to 10,000 calories a day, mostly in the form of a protein-rich stew, called chanko-nabe.

The heaviest wrestler ever recorded remains Konishiki Yasokichi, a Hawaiian-American who weighed 633 pounds. He competed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1991, when Sumo first entered Japanese shores – the last time the Hall hosted the sport until now.

This week’s event marked Versace’s first sumo tournament in 34 years, and only the second in history. More than 40 “Rishi” – not all from Japan but Mongolia and Ukraine too – stopped most of the people in their tracks outside Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, attracting the King’s 3/4 station area.

As Hosheri raised his professional trophy – an ornate cup flown in from Tokyo – it symbolized more than victory. It was a celebration of an ancient Japanese tradition finding new life – and new fans – far from home.