He is not afraid to speak his mind or talk trash, but his willingness to do so has left him feeling misunderstood. He is a fighter - the Mundine you see in front of the camera is selling fights.

What he does away from the media scrums shows a real glimpse into 'The Man'.

Mundine (48-8) will bring down the curtain on his career when he meets Australian boxing's clean-cut hero Jeff Horn (18-1-1) at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Horn believes the majority of Australia will be in his corner, and he is more than likely right. Mundine's antics in Wednesday's official pre-fight press conference suggest he doesn't care.

He knows the game.

"They’re all watching me, baby," Mundine said.

"I’m the show, I’m the main attraction, he’s boring, he’s like watching paint dry. I’m the character, I’m the personality, I’m the man that transcends sport. You know what I mean? That’s me.

"I’ve been around the block a long time. You keep talking about the age, I’m a different beast. I’m a different man, I ain’t the average 43-year-old.

"There’s extraordinary athletes, and there are athletes that are extraordinary. I’m still super fit. I don’t get tired in fights, check my resume.

"This kid ain’t gon’ beat me, I’ll back him up and beat his arse up. That’s what I’m going to do.

"He’s good at what he does, and he is effective at what he does, but there’s levels to this shit. He got found out against [Terence] Crawford with levels, he’s going to get found out again with me with levels, you feel me?

"It don’t matter who they want to win, it’s who is going to win. And Inshallah, it’s gon’ be me."

Mundine didn't rest when the microphone was switched off. As he faced up to the former World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion, his mouth moved at a rate of knots.

The 43-year-old says he wasn't mincing his words against Australian boxing's pin-up boy.

"You’re in the deep water again now. Your team put you in this predicament, you’re going to go down again. I don’t think you’re going to be able to rebound from this," Mundine said when asked what he told Horn.

After the fighters finished exchanging pleasantries in front of the crowd and behind the press conference banner, fans came in droves to meet both combatants.

One sported a 'black lives matter' shirt, another in a top with the Aboriginal flag printed across the chest. Then of course there was 'the Black Pearl', Steve Renouf.

Their eagerness to chat to 'Choc' and pose for photos was a sign of how much Mundine's heritage means to him and what he has done for his community.

But Mundine has said in the past "it doesn't matter if they're black, white or brindle to me" - fans of all different backgrounds asked for a moment of Mundine's time, and he was more than generous, holding babies and high-fiving kids with a smile on his face.

As he and his team made their way down Queen Street, swallowed by a mass of shoppers in the heart of Brisbane, promoter Emaid Dib was clearly rapt with how the press conference had transpired.

In front of the cameras and in the ring, Mundine is a "different beast". A beast that has long understood boxing inside and outside the squared circle.

Come Friday night, Mundine will kick into gear again. In his words, just call him "the dream crusher, because I’m about to crush his dream".