Kobayashi Boldly Accuses Joey Chestnut of Cheating in Eating Contests

Russell vs. Chamberlain. Magic vs. Bird. Manning vs. Brady. I think it's high time that Kobayashi vs. Chestnut makes its way into the pantheon of the greatest rivalries in sports.

Japanese eating legend Takeru Kobayashi is an immortal in his sport in his own right, but has faded into irrelevancy after rival Joey Chestnut has won 12 of the last 13 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests. Kobayashi seems bitter that the one guy he butted heads with the most in his career has been at the top of his profession for 13 years, and is letting it all out by claiming that Chestnut is a cheater.

"I've personally, definitely witnessed some cheating, yes," Kobayashi says. "One example, we were eating for a P'Zone competition years ago and he was throwing the hardest part to eat, the crust, into the box the whole time." Don't do the P'Zone like that!

Kobayashi is also accusing Major League Eating of artificially goosing Chestnut's numbers and propping him up to drive interest in the sport.

Kobayashi is the godfather of this sport, often credited as the one who helped popularize it, but Chestnut has passed him by. And he doesn't like it.

While Kobayashi still holds 15 world records as an eater, he's still firmly No. 2 in the public consensus behind Chestnut. And he's on a mission to put a little damper on his shine.