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- Anthony Joshua says he will KO the Drake curse forever.
- The smash hit rapper seemingly has a habit of lending his support to a team or athlete, only for them to end up losing.
- Drake famously draped himself in the Irish flag next to the UFC fighter Conor McGregor before the striker was conclusively beaten by Khabib Nurmagomedov last year.
- But unbeaten heavyweight Joshua is unfazed as he took a photograph with Drake, said he’d "break the curse," and is therefore confident of beating Jarrell Miller with ease on June 1.
Anthony Joshua is confident he can break the Drake curse.
The Drake jinx is apparently a very real thing in sports as the popular rapper, renowned for his smash hit singles like "Back to Back," "In My Feelings," and "Nonstop," seemingly has a habit of backing a team or an athlete only for them to go on to lose.
Drake has pledged support to the University of Kentucky and the Toronto Raptors in the past, but neither basketball team has enjoyed championship success since.
With Drake cheering the team on from courtside, the Raptors have failed to appear in the NBA Finals. Though they made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016, the team still lost 4-2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Drake is also a fan of Kentucky, but the Wildcats have failed to win a national title since he declared his support in 2012.
Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Drake’s curse transcends basketball and has infiltrated combat sports as he was photographed holding the Irish flag aloft for his friend Conor McGregor at the UFC weigh-in for the Khabib Nurmagomedov fight at UFC 229 in October, 2018.
But McGregor was conclusively beaten and submitted in the fourth round of a wild fight.
In January this year, Drake attempted to end the curse himself ahead of a weekend featuring two NFL Conference Championship games by wearing a sweater with all four team emblems stitched into it.
In an Instagram story, he wrote: "To everyone that believes in the Drake curse, good luck tomorrow."
In theory, by backing everyone, surely he’d end up siding with two winners. However, the LA Rams vs. New Orleans Saints game and the New England Patriots vs. Kansas City Chiefs game both went into overtime, so people joked that the curse still stood.
British boxer Joshua is the latest athlete to "win" the support of Drake, but he is confident he will be the one to "break the curse."
On Thursday, he posted a photo of himself with the rapper on Twitter and Instagram with the caption: "Bout to break the curse #June1st."
The unbeaten boxer defends his four heavyweight championship titles on June 1 when he takes on Brooklyn bruiser Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Tempers flared shortly after the Joshua vs. Miller fight was announced when the American shoved the Englishman so hard he almost fell over.
Joshua’s team see the Miller fight as a springboard to even greater things as they are planning for the heavyweight champion to become this era’s Floyd Mayweather and bank a billion dollars.
But that first involves knocking Miller out in thrilling fashion this summer and ending the Drake curse for good.
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See Also:
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- Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroic hat trick doesn’t change the fact that his game remains in long-term decline
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Alan Dawson)