The Senegal-born welterweight will face Egidijus Kavaliauskas in Equatorial Guinea in December in the Central African nation’s “first big fight”, and he hopes to take to the ring more often on the continent in the future.

He told Boxing News magazine: “I’ve always had the dream in my head to fight in Africa.

“I spoke with Jerome [Abiteboul, promoter] and it was something we were thinking about for a while. We spoke with [WBC President] Mauricio Sulaiman too and decided to take this fight to Africa.

“It will be the first of many events in Africa. We are trying to bring those big events back to Africa.

“We had some partners and sponsors who wanted us to do it so we said, ‘Let’s do it, let’s go’.

“We will move on after December 7 and take boxing to other parts of Africa…

“This is just the start. They want to see many events there, not only in Guinea but everywhere in Africa.

“Our partner wants to go everywhere in Africa and why not in Senegal too? I think it will be great for them too – people will start to discover this amazing country. It’s win-win.”

After investment has been poured into the sport from the Middle East in recent years, the Olympic medalist hopes Africa can do the same.

He said: “I think boxing can work in Africa.

“Look at the Saudi guys – they put the money on the table for people to go there.

“At the beginning everyone was a little bit, ‘Ah, I don’t know if it’s safe to go there’ and things like that, but they have proved it is a safe and nice place to visit.

“If the money is right, we can maybe bring a world title fight to Africa. We will have to see.

“It’s all about the money, or maybe we go to a purse bid.

“We are solely focusing on Kavaliauskas for the time being.”