Robbie Williams: Dua Lipa declines Joshua-Fury performance offer
robbie williams enters the frame here because the Joshua-Fury promotion has already started to depend on more than the fight itself. Dua Lipa was approached about performing at the heavyweight bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury later this year, but she declined the offer.
Turki Al-Sheikh said the fight could be jeopardised if Dua Lipa did not agree to perform as part of the event's promotion. That puts an unusual marketing piece inside a deal that already hinges on two boxers getting to the ring in one piece and on schedule.
Joshua, Fury and 2026
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have agreed terms for a long-awaited all-British contest targeted for the end of 2026. The fight has been linked for 10 years, and several attempts to make it happen failed, which is why any promoter push now carries more weight than a standard undercard plan.
Before that bout can happen, Joshua must first get through his scheduled fight against Kristian Prenga on 25 July in Saudi Arabia. Frank Warren said that a loss for Joshua in July would likely scupper a fight with the Gypsy King, so the later event is already tied to one result in the near term.
Wembley and the promotion
A venue for Fury v Joshua has yet to be finalised, although Wembley Stadium in October is understood to be the preferred option for organisers. That leaves the event in a familiar place for big boxing promotions: the headline fight is agreed in principle, but the staging is still unsettled.
Music performances have become a feature of major boxing events, from Eminem accompanying Terence Crawford to the ring for his welterweight championship fight against Errol Spence Jr. to Liam Gallagher performing before Daniel Dubois' win over Joshua at Wembley in 2024, and 50 Cent appearing during Chris Eubank Jr's ringwalk for his rematch with Conor Benn last year. Against that backdrop, losing Dua Lipa removes one of the promotional pieces organisers had apparently wanted.
Joshua's July test
Tyson Fury made his comeback from retirement with a win over Arslanbek Makhmudov last month, which keeps the proposed all-British fight in circulation while Joshua still has work to do. For now, the event's path runs through 25 July, then through venue selection, then through whatever promotion remains without the pop star organisers had hoped to attach to it.
If Joshua gets past Prenga, the focus shifts back to whether the end-of-2026 bout can be staged at all and whether the promotion can stand on the fight alone. Given the way these two have been linked for 10 years, the cleaner business read is simple: the boxing still matters more than the concert slot.
