Drake places massive bet on Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou result as fans fear 'curse' will strike again

Drake has placed a massive bet on Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou's bout.

On Friday, former two-time unified heavyweight champion Joshua will take on ex-UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou in an eagerly anticipated bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Joshua claimed three wins in as many fights in 2023, as he looks to chart his way back to boxing's summit.

Meanwhile, Ngannou has only featured in one professional boxing bout, controversially falling to a decision loss against Tyson Fury in October, despite dropping the linear and WBC champion.

Despite his inexperience, Drake has tipped Ngannou to go one better against Joshua and defeat the Briton.

The God's Plan artist has placed some $615,000 (£479,481) on Ngannou to beat Joshua.

Should Drake's bet come to fruition he could receive a payout of $1,906,000 (£1,486,003).

Joshua vs Ngannou: What is "Drake's curse"?

There is a popular belief on the internet that most of the athletes Drake puts his money on lose.

The most recent victim of the “Drake Curse” was middleweight champion Sean Strickland, after the Grammy-award winning musician posted an image on social media showing a massive bet in Strickland’s favour. Strickland went on to lose his middleweight title to Dricus du Plessis.

Elsewhere, Israel Adesanya was stunned by Sean Strickland when he was defeated by unanimous decision in UFC 293. The loss came after Drake put a $500,000 (£389,840) bet that Adesanya would beat Strickland by knock out.

Ngannou and Joshua fight in Saudi Arabia on Friday (Getty)

Drake also placed a hefty $1.2million (£940,000) bet on YouTuber Jake Paul to win by knockout against his opponent Tommy Fury only for the latter to emerge as the winner by a split decision.

Despite the supposed curse against Drake, Ngannou admitted he is feeling confident ahead of his second boxing bout.

"I’ve learnt a little bit from the last fight, the last camp, and leading up to this one," he told Ariel Helwani. "So, I get a little bit of experience, but the mindset is still the same.

"This is just the second boxing match, even though I'm taking on the two best guys in the world and it's still my second fight."

You can watch the Joshua vs Ngannou fight live on DAZN here.

Topics: Drake, Anthony Joshua, Francis Ngannou, Boxing, Saudi Arabia

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.