Moses Itauma has described fighting in his father’s homeland of Nigeria as "the end goal".

The 20-year-old is widely considered the future of the division following his explosive surge to 13-0 (11 KOs) in his first 2½ years as a professional.

His last outing was the 119-second stoppage of former world heavyweight title challenger Dillian Whyte on August 16 at ANB Arena in Riyadh.

As revealed by his promoter Frank Warren in September, the right-handed southpaw will return to the ring in Manchester on December 13 in a headline fight at Co-op Live Arena.

So far Itauma has boxed in England and Scotland, as well as four outings in Riyadh, but he is currently in Lagos, Nigeria, as a guest of the Balmoral Promotions card headlined by Brandon Glanton’s clash with Marcus Browne.

Itauma was born in Slovakia before moving to Chatham, Kent, as a child. but his dad is Nigerian. It was the heavyweight’s first return to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, since he was a kid, and he has revealed that he hopes to box there one day.

He told DAZN: “Of course I want to box here, that’s the end goal. When I look at people in Nigeria, I know these are my people the way they embrace me.

“I feel like it’s one of these things that has been talked about for a long time but never been executed., Now I think we are coming to the closing stages of trying to execute a fight in Nigeria.

“Someone asked me off the plane about my belts and said they were proud of me. They said I’m Nigerian and doing well, so they’re proud of me. It’s kind of hard to turn down people like that.

“It’s my first time back for over 15 years. Last time I was here was 2010, when I was far too young to remember. To see it through a man’s eyes is amazing.”

Itauma is The Ring’s No.9-rated heavyweight following his perfect start to life as a professional. He is also on the verge of a world heavyweight title shot given he is No.1 with the WBA and WBO, while the WBC have him at No.4, and the IBF have him No.5.

His outing in December is expected to be the toughest test of his career to date with The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reporting that Michael Hunter and David Adeleye are currently options for the fight.