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Dua Lipa reportedly turns down Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury performance despite ultimatum
Dua Lipa has reportedly declined an offer to perform at the super-fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua later this year.
This week, it was announced that Fury and Joshua have signed a contract to fight one another at long last, although no date or location was confirmed for the all-British heavyweight clash.
Instead, it was announced that “AJ”, 36, will box relative unknown Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on 25 July, before fighting Fury later in 2026 – likely in the UK this autumn, possibly at Wembley Stadium, and almost certainly on Netflix.
Fury, 37, also wants a warm-up bout, despite having competed just three weeks ago, when he eased past Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And there has been another moving part, it seems, with Saudi matchmaker Turki Alalshikh expressing a keen desire for British pop star Dua Lipa to be part of the Joshua vs Fury event.
Sky Sports even reported that Alalshikh had threatened to pull the plug on the fight if the “Levitating” and “Don’t Start Now” singer would not take part – although the alleged claim certainly could have been made in jest.
In any case, the BBC has now reported that Dua Lipa, 30, was approached to feature at the event, and that the three-time Grammy winner declined.
If a replacement can be found, it will not be the first time a musical act has performed at a fight with Saudi involvement. For example, Eminem performed a set before Terence Crawford beat Israil Madrimov in 2024, and later that year, Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher did the same before Joshua was stopped by Daniel Dubois.
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As well as the afore-mentioned songs, Dua Lipa counts “Dance The Night”, “Houdini” and “Training Season” among her most-popular tracks. She also collaborated with Elton John on the hit song “Cold Heart”, and with Calvin Harris on the hugely-successful “One Kiss”.
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