Drake Takes $500,000 Bath Betting on Tyson Fury to Beat Oleksandr Usyk

Patrick Andres | May 18, 2024

Dec 1, 2021; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Rapper, singer and actor Drake watches the Oklahoma City Thunder. / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Drake—remember him? The guy Kendrick Lamar was rapping about on "Like That," and "Euphoria," and "6:16 in LA," and "Meet the Grahams," and "Not Like Us?"

You could be forgiven for thinking the musician and Toronto native had abandoned all hobbies apart from trying to recreate his 2010s heyday, but Drake remains an avid sports fan and gambler. And on Saturday, as he did in the eyes of many in his feud with Lamar, he lost in highly public fashion.

On Friday night, Drake posted on his Instagram story that he had bet $565,000 on Great Britain's Tyson Fury to defeat Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk in their heavyweight title fight Saturday evening in Riyadh.

Usyk went on to defeat Fury by split decision, becoming boxing's first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000—and costing Drake a payout north of $1 million in the process.

There have been some stellar Drake years, publicity-wise, in the past. It is clear that 2024 is not one of them.