By Melissa Woods

Australian veteran Anthony Mundine says he performs best when he's backed into a corner and that's where he finds himself with his boxing career on the line against Belarusian bruiser Sergey Rabchenko.

The 39-year-old will take on Rabchenko on Wednesday night in Melbourne for the WBC silver light middleweight title.

The winner will have the chance to set up a fight with American pound-for-pound king and WBC light middleweight title holder Floyd Mayweather.

The pair weighed in before the Hisense Arena showdown with Mundine at 69.7kg, half a kilogram lighter than his opponent.

While fighting superstar Mayweather is a massive reward, the consequences are high should Mundine lose successive fights for the first time in his career.

He was knocked down five times before suffering a unanimous points decision loss to Ghana's Joshua Clottey in April. But he said this week he "didn't have his head on" for his last fight.

"My biggest moments have come when I'm under the most pressure, so I'm ready," Mundine said.

"This time it's on the line."

While retirement is on the cards with a loss he said he was only thinking about winning.

With boyish looks and a beaming smile Rabchenko, 28, doesn't look like the man to bring down the curtains on Mundine's decorated career that includes two WBA super middleweight titles.

But he has the credentials - unbeaten in 25 fights with 18 by knock out since his debut in 2006 and will start a huge favourite paying $1.22 to Mundine's $4.00.

The European junior-middleweight champion said he wanted the victory as much as Mundine.

"I'm fighting for my life and my boxing career and I'm sure it will be a good fight," he said.

Mundine, whose record is 46-6 (27 KO), said he had the skills and speed to beat Rabchenko and felt as sharp as he was when he was 25-years-old.

"I respect Sergey but the best man is going to win on the night," he said.

"I believe I've got the power and if I hit him hard enough I can hurt him but obviously he comes with a power game so I've got to be smart.

"I'm not going to let him bully me around."