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David Tua's promoter wants the Shane Cameron camp to respond by the end of next week to a proposed showdown between the two New Zealand boxing heavyweights, otherwise it "will just fall away".
Auckland-based events company Duco Ltd is working to get a deal together for the pair to fight in New Zealand in March next year.
Tua has turned down approaches from Cameron in the past, but his New York-based promoter, Cedric Kushner, today said that the former world title challenger was interested in what Duco had put to him over the past fortnight.
However, Kushner said a response from Cameron's team was needed by the close of business on Friday of next week.
"If we don't have a response, then it simply means Shane Cameron or his handlers don't want him to fight," he said.
The deadline was so that, if the answer was no, Kushner could pursue other opportunities for Tua in the United States.
While the March date would clash with a planned "homecoming" bout for Cameron in Gisborne, Kushner said the Duco proposal could represent the last opportunity for the pair to get it together.
"If they want to take a much smaller fight, then most probably the fight will just fall away," he said.
"David can't hang around until June or July. There are other opportunities in America that I'm certainly exploring as it is."
Tua, 35, was last in the ring in September of last year, when he stopped American Cerrone Fox in Michigan to take his record to 49 wins, three losses and a draw.
Asked why Tua had changed his mind about meeting Cameron, Kushner said Duco had made a significant offer, which he described as competitive with fights Tua would get in the US at present.
He also said what was on the table would allow Cameron to equal in one night his total earnings from all his previous 23 fights.
While Cameron's manager, Ken Reinsfield, has questioned Duco's experience in staging a boxing match, Kushner said he was satisfied with the company's credentials.
"They recognise the magnitude of this fight in New Zealand and what a great event it would be," he said.
"They would like to promote the fight and I feel they are capable of doing it, given the events they have previously promoted."
Cameron, 31, has won his three outings since his only defeat, a final-round knockout by American-based Nigerian Friday Ahununyah last November.
His bouts have been promoted by Knockout Boxing, which Reinsfield runs for financial backers Eric Watson and Mark Hotchin.
Last weekend, Reinsfield played down the prospects of a Duco-promoted showdown, saying his focus was on Cameron's fight in Gisborne in February or March.
Duco director David Higgins said the company would not make any comment until an agreement had been reached.
Events that Duco has promoted include international business and trade conferences and charity fundraisers, and it was involved in former US President Bill Clinton's attendance at the Global Business Forum in Auckland in 2006.
- NZPA
