Following Jake Paul’s fight last night (early hours of 20 December UK time), the ‘Drake curse’ theory has been reignited.
That’s as the rapper would’ve won an eye-watering $1.64 million (£1.23 million) if the YouTuber-turned-boxer had won against Anthony Joshua.
However, Paul was ultimately defeated by the Brit with a jaw-breaking knockout in the sixth round—and with that, Drake’s $200,000 (£149,499) on him to win proved pointless.
That probably wasn’t surprising to most, given the two stone weight difference between the boxers, and some even criticised the ‘One Dance’ rapper for not just donating the cash rather than betting it on Paul.
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But either way, it’s got the conspiracy theory of the ‘Drake curse’ doing the rounds again, as AJ even joked about banning him from his dressing room.
Speaking to ESPN, Joshua joked that he’d banned the rapper from being backstage with him as he said he knows he ‘shouldn’t’ be around him.
“You know about the Drake curse? It’s real, though,” he said.
Drake has been stung by his bets in the past, with fighters such as Israel Adesanya, Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal falling victim.
Back in 2024, he lost $300,000 (£224,200) when Canada lost to Argentina in the Copa America semi-finals.
He also backed Francis Ngannou $615,000 (£460,000) before AJ beat him in the second round. Drake shared his bet before the fight yesterday on Instagram Stories, writing: “Jakeyyyyy boy. Lock tf in.”
As that came crashing down with Paul on the canvas, fans took to X to simply say: “The Drake curse gotta be real man.”
And: “The Drake curse continues,” as well as: “The Drake Curse strikes again!”
Another added: “In all u do don’t ever let Drake bet on you, the Drake curse is real.”
“If it wasn’t for the Drake Curse, what could have been,” one joked.
Well, to be fair, Paul gave the rapper some hope by lasting for so many rounds. But it wasn’t exactly surprising to most that Joshua ended up coming out on top – even though his critics (and plenty of fans) say it should have happened much earlier on.
The YouTuber shared an X-ray this morning to show his jaw had broken in two places after his opponent landed the brutal right-hand blow on him to end the fight and come out as the champ, as people said he realised ‘he’d messed up’.
Topics: Jake Paul, Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Drake, Celebrity
Jess Battison