Jake Paul joked that he had been cursed by Drake after the rapper bet £333,000 ($400k) on him to beat Tommy Fury in their boxing match on Sunday. Paul was subsequently defeated via split decision at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia.
Drake is known for putting down large lumps of cash on major sports events and for the most part, loses more than he wins. So much so in fact that fans have made his wagers into a meme.
If Drake wears a team’s shirt, poses for a photo alongside an athlete or bets on them to win, then that team or individual are now susceptible to a cruel jinx, coined ‘the Drake curse’ and will likely go on to lose – or so the meme suggests.
The Canadian recently lost £840,000 ($1m) on a bet for Argentina to beat France in normal time during the 2022 World Cup final. Of course, Lionel Scaloni’s men did go on to win the tournament but on penalties instead. Argentina threw away a 2-0 lead in the final ten minutes of normal time as Kylian Mbappe punished the South American nation with two quick-fire goals.
“No, it’s my fault. 400,000 is nothing to him – he has won a lot more money betting on me before. He’s probably about even now. Sorry Drake, I’ll get that W in the rematch.”
In the immediate aftermath, Paul was met with boos from the Saudi crowd after reeling off the excuses for his loss. “Honestly, I felt flat, I got sick really bad twice in this camp, and injured my arm,” added Paul as boos rang around the Diriyah Arena. However, he quickly backtracked on his comments. “But I lost, I’m not making excuses. It wasn’t my best performance.”
“All respect to Tommy, he won. Don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my losses. I’ll come back and I think we deserve the rematch. It was a great fight, a close fight. I don’t know if I agree with the judges. I got a 10-8 round twice. It is what it is but I’ve already won in life. I’ve won in every single way, I have amazing family, amazing friends and an amazing work ethic.”
Fury and Paul are now expected to run it back later this year with The Problem Child set to activate the rematch clause in their contract.