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.