Since Anthony Joshua lost his fight to Andy Ruiz, internet users across the world have found a cheeky way to pin his loss on what has now become a popular ‘Drake curse’.
The ‘Drake curse’ was humourously coined as a result of the many losses recorded mostly by athletes after they must have posed for a photo with the Canadian rapper before their often important games. There, however, seems to be a lot more attached to being associated with Drake than is currently being looked at.
Past events seemingly show that many people who have associated with Drake, whether in or outside the sporting community, have recorded some level of failure at a time or the other. This has come in a form as simple as losing a bet, hype or as complex as losing an ambassadorial deal.
Here are five people, and/or teams who have supposedly suffered from the ‘Drake Curse’:
1.
Rumours were rife that Drake and Serena Williams may have been having a romantic relationship in 2015 when pictures of the pair kissing surfaced on the internet. Drake was also going to as many of Serena’s games as possible. But when Serena Williams lost an important match, a US Open Semi final that would put her name in the record books as the most successful female tennis player ever, the blame was somehow put on the distractions from her supposed affair with the rapper.
2.
When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang presented Drake with a Gunners shirt, the internet somehow saw the ‘curse’ coming. The Arsenal player and the rapper posed for a photo at one of Drake’s O2 Arena shows the week before Arsenal’s important Premier League match against Everton at Goodison Park. Aubameyang was benched for the game and Arsenal went on to drop out of the top four position with a lacklustre performance, losing 0-1 to Everton on the 7th of April, 2019.
3.
The Toronto Raptors made Drake their global ambassador in 2013 but the basketball club has been abysmal in big games ever since. The internet has also somehow pinned their failings on the ‘Drake curse’. It doesn’t help that Drake takes his support for the Raptors very personally and has been seen getting into heated face-offs with other NBA players.
4.
Drake and Connor McGregor’s friendship was one of the major talking points when the UFC 229 fight happened. The Ultimate Fighting Championship that held on October 6, 2018 saw Connor McGregor lose to his opponent, Khabib Nurmagomedov. This came shortly after he had posed with Drake for a photograph where Drake helped hold his country’s flag behind him. He had also invited Drake to his weigh-in session a day before the match. The support Drake offered McGregor apparently blew in his face as the fighter’s coach has been quoted as saying that he would get a Roundhouse kick if he came anywhere near their gym.
5.
The most recent of all the victims of the infamous ‘Drake curse’ is Nigerian boxer, Anthony Joshua. The boxer who posted this picture of himself and drake at what seemed like his gym on March 21 lost all of his heavyweight belts to newbie, Andy Ruiz on Saturday. The irony is that Joshua had also wittily captioned the post, “Bout to break the curse #June1st”. The fight, however, turned out to be one of the worst of Joshua’s career, as he hit the canvas 4 times before it ended in round 7.
This really begs the question: Is the ‘Drake curse’ real? Well, since we do not believe in superstitions, we are going to leave the answers to you. We would like to know your opinions as well as your take on whether there are more athletes who have been victims of the ‘Drake curse’ in the comment section.
