 Because of his amateur success, Kakizoe was given "makushita tsukedashi" status, meaning he was able to debut at the "makushita" 15 ranking.He was the first "makushita tsukedashi" entrant to be put at #15 instead of the bottom of the "makushita" division.He had initially hoped to debut in March 2001, but his entry was delayed because of a nagging injury.