Turki Alalshikh has made a startling claim about Dua Lipa, suggesting the global pop superstar declined to perform at the upcoming Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua fight because she may have an issue with Arabs.
Speaking at Wednesday’s launch press conference for the long-awaited heavyweight showdown, the Saudi boxing powerbroker addressed Lipa’s absence while discussing the complicated process of bringing Fury-Joshua to the United Kingdom.
“I know Dua Lipa will not perform because she doesn’t like boxing, and maybe she doesn’t like me also,” Alalshikh said. “I think she has something with the Arabs. It is my blood, I can’t change it.”
There is currently no evidence that Lipa declined the performance because of Alalshikh’s Arab identity, and the singer has not publicly responded to his latest comments.
The unusual exchange comes several months after Lipa’s involvement became an unexpected subplot in negotiations for one of British boxing’s biggest fights.
Back in May, BBC Sport reported that Lipa had been approached about performing at Fury-Joshua but declined the offer. At the time, it was unclear whether Alalshikh was being serious or joking when he suggested that securing Lipa for the event could be important to staging the fight at Wembley Stadium.
Despite her decision, organisers made clear that the fight would proceed without her, with Fury’s manager Spencer Brown telling Sky Sports that they would instead look for an “iconic UK act” to perform.
Alalshikh revisited the situation Wednesday while explaining why the fight ultimately ended up in Cardiff rather than London.
According to Alalshikh, one of the major obstacles to Wembley was his desire for the event to run until around 2 a.m. in order to accommodate audiences in other international markets. He said London could not provide the stadium on those terms, while Cardiff could.
The Saudi entertainment chief also claimed that staging the fight in Britain instead of pursuing other options, including New York’s Madison Square Garden, would cost him approximately $70 million in potential revenue.
“Put yourself in my shoes,” he told the audience while defending the decision-making surrounding the event.
Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn similarly claimed that Joshua sacrificed an eight-figure sum to ensure the fight remained in the United Kingdom.
After years of failed negotiations and speculation, Fury and Joshua are now officially scheduled to meet on December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
The two former heavyweight world champions came face-to-face at Wednesday’s London launch, with the atmosphere considerably more cordial than many might have expected given their long-running rivalry.
Fury, 38, and Joshua, 36, have been linked with a fight for more than a decade, with previous attempts repeatedly falling apart.
Their eventual meeting will be streamed globally by Netflix and is being backed by Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and one of the most influential figures in boxing’s recent transformation.
