Danny Green was riding a huge wave of public support into Wednesday's long-awaited fight with Anthony Mundine.

Punters have got behind Green and many of the thousands of fans who have flown in from Perth for the fight gatecrashed Tuesday night's weigh-in to give him a raucous reception and last-minute boost.

When Mundine entered from the opposite side of the room at Aussie Stadium, the man who considers himself the people's fighter but has regularly battled against public opinion, was roundly booed and jeered.

"Let's do it, let's get it on," Green told his fans after weighing in at 75.9kg, slightly heavier than Mundine's 75.5kg.

Green then walked purposefully down to the playing surface and climbed into the ring.

With a freshly shaved mohawk in his lean skull and wrapped in army fatigues, he leant against the ropes and stalked around the ring with a steely gaze, looking a little like Robert De Niro's Travis Bickle in the 1976 classic film Taxi Driver.

But Mundine was not daunted by Green's backing and demeanour.

"I'll bring him down, man," Mundine said.

The pair has never met and did not cross paths at the weigh-in as their six-year slanging match finally gets into the ring.

The winner is guaranteed a shot at world champion Mikkel Kessler but in the immediate term will earn local bragging rights after years of spite between the two men.

"In November of 2001, Mundine was interviewed on national TV and he called me a bum, basically disrespecting me," Green said.

"He continued to say that, so enough was enough and I fired back saying, 'well mate if that's how you feel then let's do it, let's get it on'.

"And he avoided it for a long, long time. But now money talks so he figures the time is right."

While many consider the WBA super-middleweight world title eliminator a battle between Mundine's speed and Green's power, the former rugby league player insists he can match his opponent's weighty punch in a fight he rates the most important of his career.

He has said even if Green sparred with Superman or the six-million-dollar man, the former Olympian would not have been able to prepare for Mundine's speed.

But Mundine has vowed to stand toe to toe with Green who has only been taken the distance three times in his 23-fight career, with 19 KOs on his CV.

"Danny is obviously probably heavy handed, like they say ... but in saying that I definitely feel that I've got power as well, I'm not just a guy that's fast," Mundine said.

"He's going to find it hard to hit, he's going to be hit more often than he ever has."

But Mundine's speed may well be the decisive factor if the fight lasts the 12 rounds as Green's ferocious approach takes its toll on his own body.

Many question whether his ferocity has worn the 33-year-old down to a standstill, with doubts hanging over Green's progress since his first world title fight loss to Marcus Beyer in 2003.

Former world champion Barry Michael is among those who claim Green hasn't improved since then while Mundine, 30, has made significant progress.

Mundine's American trainer Roy Jones snr also said the former rugby league player had improved since he lost his world title fight to Kessler in June last year.

But punters are siding with Green.

Centrebet has taken three times more bets on Green than Mundine and believes he will start favourite while it and SportsTAB were both paying $1.90 a win for the two boxers.

With a 25-3 record including 20 KOs, Mundine has won two of his five world title fights and Green, who turned pro after the Sydney Olympics, claimed an interim world crown in between his two title fight losses to Beyer.

But both believe this is the defining fight of their career.

Michael says the winner will go on to take Kessler's crown, while veteran trainer Johnny Lewis fears the loser's career will head into freefall.

And both fighters are aware of its importance.

"There's a lot at stake for this fight," Mundine said.

"It's the most important fight."

And the public agree, with the crowd, paying between $40 and $1000, expected to challenge the record of 37,000 for an Australian fight set at Jeff Fenech's world title loss to Azumah Nelson in Melbourne in 1992.

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