Former Yokozuna Akebono had a very rough day on Thursday, during a sparring session with 35-year old former IBF champion Frans Botha. He absolutely was hammered by Botha with relative ease and Akebono was bleeding. Akebono's eyes were tearing up and Botha said that even though the sparring session only went 3 minutes, he saw some things that he could give immediate direction to Akebono to improve on.
Sankei Sports reported that Akebono was having troubles controlling his temper during sparring and that while he showed great strength offensively, he had terrible defensive skills. In short, the scouting report is - great strength (equivalent to a heavyweight boxer) on offense, zero defense and can't last long. The long-term training plan is for Akebono to do full-time training starting on 12/7 and K-1 will give him as many fighters to work with as possible (Great Kusatsu, Takeru, etc.).
As far as diet is concerned, Sankei Sports says that Akebono will abstain from drinking alcohol and will be eating a diet of chicken and vegetable salads. The hope is that he can lose at least 65 pounds
"Nie narzekam chociaz jestem nizszy niz Cleant Eastwood, chociaz nigdy nie dolacze do grona kulturystow, chociaz nie znam setek przyslow. Nie narzekam, bo fruzie wola optymistow!" [Lona]