ANTHONY JOSHUA became the latest victim of the “Drake Curse” with his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr last night – after vowing to end the rapper’s hoodoo.
AJ lost the first professional fight of his career as he was stopped in the seventh round in the early hours of this morning in New York.
He was floored FOUR times in the bout before the referee decided enough was enough.
It means the heavyweight star has lost his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBF world titles – but is expected to take a rematch with the Mexican-American later this year.
And salt was rubbed into the wounds after Joshua claimed he would “break the curse” of Drake – with sporting stars suffering defeat after posing for photos with the Canadian rapper.
AJ’s somewhat cocky post on March 21, captioning a photo with the rap star in the gym, said: “Bout to break the curse #June1st”
But it came back to bite him as Ruiz inflicted one of the greatest shocks in boxing history on the Brit.
And plenty were quick to remind AJ of his bold prediction, with comments flooding in on his Instagram.
One said: “I think the curse is real now.”
Victims of the Drake Curse
2013: Toronto Raptors make Drake their global ambassador and earn a reputation for choking in big games
2014: Kentucky lose college basketball decider versus Wisconsin
2014: Miami Heat smashed 4-1 in NBA Finals by San Antonio
2015: Serena Williams shocked by Roberta Vinci in US Open semi-final
2016: Quarterback Johnny Manziel drops out of NFL having previously been a first-round draft pick
2018: UFC champion Conor McGregor loses to Khabib Nurmagomedov
2019: Alabama suffer big loss to college football rivals Clemson
2019: Jadon Sancho’s Dortmund hammered by Bayern
2019: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang benched as Arsenal lose at Everton
2019: Sergio Aguero misses a penalty as City lose to Tottenham in the Champions League
2019: PSG suffer their heaviest league defeat in 19 years, losing 5-1 at Lille
2019: Anthony Joshua loses first professional fight and world title belts with shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr
Another joked, “The curse is unbreakable,” while others posted a series of laughing emojis.
And one added: “Thank you for being a good sport about this but you gotta get these jokes man I’m sorry.”
Joshua, 29, joked last month that he would ban the Canadian star, 32, from his locker room at Madison Square Garden because of his torrid record.
Speaking to ESPN about whether he would have Drake backstage, the 29-year-old said: “I know I shouldn’t.
“You know about the Drake curse? It’s real though.
“This is what I’m saying, what’s weird though is I took a picture with Drake.
“We took it before (Jarrell) Miller got banned. Miller then had a drug test and got popped. The fight got cancelled!”
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Serena Williams, Conor McGregor, Jadon Sancho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have all been hit by the curse, which dates back six years.
Sergio Aguero missed his penalty in the Champions League against Tottenham after hanging out with the rapper.
And then Paris Saint-Germain suffered their heaviest league defeat for 19 years, losing 5-1 at Lille, in another episode of the bonkers trend.
Nobody:
Absolutely nobody:
Anthony Joshua: Bout to break the drake curse.
Drake curse: Do I look like a joke to you!
— Optimistic Pessimist (@Canary_33) June 2, 2019
Anthony Joshua promised to break the curse, but it's other way round, Drake curse is real
— Private Life (@Shobayok1) June 2, 2019
