He is the nephew of the sport's 68th Yokozuna Asashōryū.
Sugarragchaa was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, as the second son of former Yokozuna Asashōryū's eldest brother (Sugarragchaa Dolgorsürengiin), who has a background as a bökh wrestler.
Described as a "city kid", he spent all his summer vacations, particularly long in Mongolia (from June to September) camping in yurts.
As a child, he was naturally athletic and learned to ride horses at the age of three.
At the age of five, he began taking lessons in basketball and judo at the same club as fellow future-Ōzeki Kirishima, saying that together they "were like friends".
1973
Born into a wrestling family, Sugarragchaa often socialized with other professional sumo wrestlers at dinner parties, notably with 73rd Yokozuna Terunofuji, long before becoming a professional himself.
He also watched his uncle's matches on television, and developed a great respect for him.
Although he was not particularly fond of wrestling, he started taking bökh lessons at the age of 11 and achieved some local successes.
Upon graduation from middle school, he was scouted from Mongolia by the coach of Japan's sumo club, who visited the country to scout for international sports students.
There, he was recognized because his coach saw his look, similar to his famous uncle's "who always seemed to be fighting something".
Although he did not feel like wrestling yet, he decided to give in to temptation and took a trip to Japan.
He was finally recruited and attended Kashiwa High School in Chiba Prefecture, along future professional sumo wrestlers Ōshōma and Asahakuryū.
There, he first joined the wrestling club, saying he was afraid of sumo, but in his first year he took part in a school trip and visited the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and became interested in the sport.
After consulting with his uncle he committed to trying sumo at the high school level.
Though he had no previous experience, he quickly started getting good results in amateur sumo tournaments and was seen as having great potential.
In his third year, he was defeated by Tottori Jōhoku High School's wrestler Amartuvshin Amarsanaa at the Inter-High School Championships, allowing Amartuvshin to become the first foreign-born high school-Yokozuna in history.
Hōshōryū joined Tatsunami stable after high school.
During this time, he was in regular contact with his uncle who gave him such advice as "build on your own strengths" and "don't put on weight quickly or you'll risk injury."
1999
Hōshōryū Tomokatsu (豊昇龍 智勝), born May 22, 1999, as Sugarragchaagiin Byambasuren (Сугаррагчаагийн Бямбасүрэн) is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar.
2018
Wrestling for Tatsunami stable, he made his professional debut in January 2018.
He is known for his throwing skills, even when measured among Mongolian sumo wrestlers, who tend to use throws more than average reflecting the skills used in bökh.
After winning the top division division title in July 2023, Hōshōryū was promoted to his highest rank, ōzeki.
Hōshōryū first stepped into the ring professionally in January 2018.
In his maezumō debut, he was defeated by fellow debutant Naya, who was also garnering attention as the grandson of the greatly respected Yokozuna Taihō.
Because of their strong family ties to sumo, he commented that he and Naya (who later changed his shikona to Ōhō) felt close to each other.
In his first official tournament on the banzuke in March 2018, Hōshōryū was close to winning the jonokuchi division championship after scoring six consecutive victories, but was defeated again by Naya, who went on to win the championship.
Since then, the two wrestlers have maintained a certain rivalry.
In Hōshōryū's second tournament, he took the jonidan championship with a perfect record.
On his debut in the sandanme division, he went 6–1 when scoring a win in his final match against Hiradoumi, securing promotion to the makushita division.
During the summer tours in June, Hōshōryū was unusually chosen by Yokozuna Hakuhō to participate in a training session, showing that he took him under his wing after helping to train him when he was still in high school.
In his first tournament in the makushita division, he recorded 3 consecutive victories before recording 3 defeats.
In his 7th bout, he was paired against Naya, who also had a score of 3–3, putting both wrestlers in a position of potential demotion to the sandanme division.
Hōshōryū defeated Naya by kubinage, the latter suffering the first make-koshi record of his career and being logically relegated to the lower division for the November tournament of the same year.
2019
In January 2019, Hōshōryū faced former makuuchi wrestler Ura, who was rising through the ranks after being absent from the ring since the September 2017 tournament.
Although Hōshōryū defeated him by kakenage, Ura injured his knee again during the match and had to withdraw from the tournament before missing another four consecutive tournaments due to injury.
Hōshōryū later said he was nervous about facing a former maegashira but felt responsible for the injury, going to the arena infirmary after the match to ask Ura for forgiveness.
In May, Hōshōryū also recorded an eighth positive record and had a remarkable match against Kotonowaka, where observers noticed the similarities between Hōshōryū's technique and that of his uncle.
In July 2019, Hōshōryū, then ranked as makushita 2, faced competition against opponents who had mostly already been ranked in the jūryō division.
During this tournament he was called upon to wrestle in this upper-division with a match against jūryō Kizakiumi, where he suffered a defeat.
That month, he suffered his only losing tournament in his rise through the lower divisions.
