Mitoizumi was never able to reach those heights again, but after his final appearance in the "san'yaku" ranks in November 1992 he remained in the top division until March 1999. He carried on fighting in the "jūryō" division until September 2000, when he finally announced his retirement at the age of 38, rather than be demoted to the third "makushita" division. He had been an active wrestler for more than 22 years. His tally of 807 career wins is the twelfth highest in sumo history. He never earned any "kinboshi", as all his victories over "yokozuna" came when he was fighting at "komusubi" or "sekiwake" rank.