Paul Gallen urged Dean Lonergan to sharpen his pencil, and that's exactly what the promoter has done, confirming a deal is close to being finalised to have Gallen fight rising heavyweight star Justis Huni on June 16.
Speaking to Sporting News, Lonergan confirmed the scheduled date, saying he hoped to lock down a venue this week before the contracts are finally signed.
Lonergan said Sydney is the preferred option, but didn't rule out Brisbane or the Gold Coast with Huni's Australian heavyweight title set to be put on the line.
Gallen is coming off a remarkable first round knockout win over former heavyweight world champion Lucas Browne, and wants to fight Huni before the Brisbane-based boxer heads to the Tokyo Olympics.
Huni will fight Christian Tsoye on May 26 in the lead-up to a potential Gallen showdown, before heading to Tokyo in late July.
According to Lonergan, that spells disaster for the former Cronulla Sharks captain.
“Paul Gallen is either Australia’s bravest man, or Australia’s stupidest, and I think it’s a combination of both,” Lonergan told Sporting News .
“He’s caught Justis Huni at the worst possible time. Justis is still slowly making the adjustment from amateur into professional and that means right now, he’s not sitting down on his punches and hitting as hard as he can.
“Paul Gallen, instead of having a merciful knockout in the first or second round with unbelievable, awesome power – which is going to come with Justis – he’s going to have the living crap beaten out of him over four or five rounds and it’s going to be a slow destruction for Gallen.
"Justis is very well prepared and this is going to be a slow beatdown, and it’s unlikely Paul Gallen will want to fight after this.
Gallen had previously campaigned for a fight with Rob Whittaker, but turned his attention to Huni following his win over Browne in Wollongong in April.
In a video he posted to social media last week, Gallen said the offer put to him to fight Huni wasn't enough.
"Dean, sharpen your pencil mate. You want me in the ring with him, sharpen your pencil – it’s nowhere near what I will accept for the fight. You need to fix it up," Gallen said.
"You want it to happen, make it happen. Sharpen the pencil, ring me back – you’ve got my number."
Lonergan says his revised offer should be enough to entice Gallen into the ring, and hit out at Gallen's demands.
“He came back last week and said ‘sharpen your pencil’ and I’ve sharpened the pencil as sharp as I can possibly get it,” Lonergan said.
“Here we are, we’ve got an agreement and we’re closing in very fast on getting a signed agreement. A deal’s not a deal until we get it signed, but we’re working towards June 16.
“It’s all about percentages, and when it comes down to it, Paul Gallen doesn’t just want his pie, he wants your pie and the next door neighbour’s pie. There’s not much left on the table.”
Before Gallen upset his plans, Lonergan had an agreement in place for Huni to fight Browne prior to the Olympics, but sees an even greater opportunity in a bout with Gallen.
“As frightening as Lucas Browne looks, he doesn’t fight like that,” he said.
“Justis fights like Lucas looks and we can turn Justis into a pay-per-view fighter overnight. It's an integral part of the plan and it's going to fast-forward Justis 12 months.
"When Gallen gets into round one and gets hit 10 or 15 times, and he’s half dazed and he can’t do anything to stop it, that’s when he's going to know he’s made the wrong decision.
“At the end of the day, Paul Gallen is just another bum that I’m feeding to my beast."