Over the weekend, Tyson Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder to retain the WBC heavyweight title in one of the most-viewed fights in history, drawing about 850,000 paid subscribers (with approximately 10 million fans viewing illegal streams online). One of the fans that (hopefully) paid to watch was none other than Drake– one of sports’ biggest fans (and until yesterday, boxing’s biggest curse).
Before the fight, the hip-hop artist recorded a video message in support of Fury. In a clip shared on Twitter, Drake calls Fury “the most psycho man I know” but also “one with the clearest heart” before wishing him the best of luck this weekend, saying “I want you to just go out there and continue the legacy, do what you do” before dropping a few f-bombs of encouragement.
However, well wishes from Drake have been a superstitious sign for future failure in the past in what became known as the dreaded ‘Drake curse’.
The superstition is the idea that when Drake offers his encouragement or support of an athlete or team before a match, game, or event, it means they’ll lose.
There are several noteworthy examples of players and teams who were on the wrong end of Drake’s well wishes: the Kentucky Wildcats, Arsenal, Manchester City, PSG, Alabama football, Conor McGregor, and the Philadelphia 76ers to name a few.
Maybe the curse was broken due to the fact that Fury isn’t a superstitious man, posting on his IG story: “Curse? No such thing pal” before the fight.
Or maybe the curse isn’t real after all- just ask Kawhi Leonard who went on to lead Drake’s hometown Toronto Raptors to an NBA championship in 2019- all with Drake sitting courtside at many games.
