Dua Lipa fans have been left baffled and disgusted by a boxing promoter’s comments after the pop superstar was unexpectedly dragged into the launch of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury’s long-awaited fight.
Saudi boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh made the bizarre comments about the 31-year-old singer during Wednesday’s launch press conference for Anthony Joshua and Fury’s heavyweight showdown.
The two British fighters finally came face-to-face after years of false starts, with their Battle of Britain now officially scheduled for December 11 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
However, while explaining why the fight had ended up in Wales rather than London, Alalshikh suddenly turned his attention to Dua.
‘I will be honest today, I know that London wouldn’t give me the stadium until 2am,’ he told the crowd.
He then claimed Dua would not perform at the event because ‘she doesn’t like boxing’ and suggested ‘maybe she doesn’t like me’.
After somebody in the crowd appeared to respond, Alalshikh went further, saying: ‘No, I think she has something with the Arab. And, you know, it is my blood. I cannot change it.’
There is no evidence Dua’s decision not to perform had anything to do with Alalshikh’s ethnicity, and she has not publicly explained why she declined the offer.
Unsurprisingly, the unusual tangent left viewers wondering how on earth Dua had found herself being discussed at a boxing press conference in the first place.
‘Sombody plz explain why dua lipa is getting brought up at a boxing match,’ one bewildered fan wrote on X.
Another criticised the suggestion behind Alalshikh’s comments, writing: ‘The way hes blaming a whole ethnicity cause she said no to a boxing match is actually insane behavior. like bro shes albanian she probably just doesnt care about your event 😭.’
‘Bro this is just embarrassing….’ someone else said, while another declared: ‘She’s honestly such an icon he’s embarrassing himself.’
A fifth viewer was even more unimpressed, writing: ‘Ugh, she was right not to go this whole speech was disgusting.’
Dua’s potential involvement in the fight has actually been a strangely persistent subplot to the Joshua-Fury saga.
Earlier this year, Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, was reported to be particularly keen on getting the Levitating hitmaker involved in the event.
At one point, he even suggested she needed to perform at the fight if it was to go ahead in London.
It was unclear how seriously that apparent ultimatum was intended, but BBC Sport subsequently reported that Dua had indeed been approached about performing and had declined the offer.
She is therefore not expected to provide the soundtrack when Joshua and Fury finally settle a rivalry that has been a decade in the making.
Big-name musical performances have become increasingly common at major boxing events backed by Alalshikh.
Liam Gallagher performed at Wembley Stadium before Joshua’s 2024 world-title fight against Daniel Dubois, while Eminem performed ahead of Terence Crawford’s fight with Israil Madrimov that same year.
Dua or no Dua, Joshua and Fury are now preparing for one of the biggest all-British fights in recent memory after years of negotiations repeatedly falling apart.
Joshua has not fought since his December victory over Jake Paul, breaking the YouTuber’s jaw in the sixth round.
Fury, meanwhile, came out of retirement earlier this year and comfortably outpointed Arslanbek Makhmudov in April.
The pair were considerably more cordial than many might have expected when they finally faced off in London, with Fury praising his rival’s career and both men joking on stage.
Somehow, it was Dua Lipa who ended up providing the controversy.
Representatives of Dua Lipa have been contacted for comment.