Drake had made public his bet in favor of Mike Tyson shortly before the fight started (EFE/REUTERS composition)
On Friday night, the highly anticipated fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul drew thousands of spectators to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. However, the excitement of the event was not only experienced in the stadium, but also in the bets that marked the night’s preview.
Drakea rapper fond of sports betting, added to the furor generated by the fight in the ring with an impressive sum in favor of Tyson, the former world boxing champion.
Despite the Canadian’s confidence in the legendary boxer’s return, the result was totally opposite to his expectations, adding another large loss to his record.
Tyson’s defeat against Jake Paul, which ended with a victory for the young and controversial YouTuber by unanimous decision, became another chapter in what has been called the “Drake curse.”
If Tyson had won, Drake’s bet would have had a return of more than a million dollars (Instagram/@champagnepapi)
This streak of “bad luck” has been widely discussed on social media and in sports circles. Several of Drake’s public bets have not turned out well.
Drake, who shared the bet on his social networks before the fight, fully trusted that Tyson, at 58, would manage to surpass Paul, 27.
The rapper bet nothing less than USD 355.000 for Tyson’s victory, a figure that, if successful, would have generated a profit of more than one million dollars (around USD 1,011,750). However, the former world champion’s loss to the young challenger left Drake with another resounding loss.
“Iron Mike”, who had not competed professionally since 2003, was lackluster and failed to generate the expected offense in the ring. According to Reuters data, Tyson barely managed to land 18 punches over the eight rounds, while Paul landed 78. The former heavyweight champion could not find his rhythm and was overwhelmed by the energy and agility of Paul, who finally He won by unanimous decision.
Despite the expectations for his return to the ring, Tyson was unable to demonstrate his power in his first professional fight in almost 20 years. (USA TODAY Sports)
After the fight, the former champion admitted that he had not managed to show his full potential, but noted that he was satisfied with his personal performance.
Speaking to the news agency, Tyson explained: “I didn’t prove anything to anyone, only myself. “I don’t live to please the world, I’m just happy with what I can do.”. He also revealed that he came into the fight with a leg injury, but did not consider it an excuse for the result.
Jake Paul, for his part, also recognized the difficulty of the fight, but was happy with the result. “It was as difficult as I thought it would be.”stated the influencer after winning the victory.
The fight, broadcast live on Netflixwas witnessed by more than 72,000 people in the stadium and millions of spectators around the world. The fight also suffered some technical setbacks, as the fighting platform streaming experiment transmission failureswhich left some fans upset and confused during the moments before and after the fight.
Spectators who wanted to watch the fight on Netflix complained about the excessive technical errors that interrupted the transmission (USA TODAY Sports)
Throughout his career, the rapper has been the protagonist of a series of bets that have ended in failure. In 2022, the artist bet USD 1 million in favor of Argentina defeating France in the regulation 90 minutes during the World Cup final. Although Argentina emerged champion, they did so in a penalty shootout, which meant the loss of their bet.
In 2023, too lost more than $2 million betting that Israel Adesanya would retain his title in the UFC, only for him to be defeated by Alex Pereira. Drake had also bet in favor of Canada in the confrontation against Argentina in the World Cup semifinals, which also resulted in a defeat.
