By Ryan Songalia

Despite being ranked by Ring Magazine as the number five pound for pound best fighter in the world, even manager Cameron Dunkin concedes that few in his own ethnic circle know who Nonito Donaire Jr. is.

"That's always been our problem," says Dunkin, who has handled many of the sport's top stars over the last 20 years.

"When I talk to Filipino people here in Las Vegas, most of them haven't heard of him. The Filipino people that have heard of him would always say that they know the name but have never seen him fight.

"Look, I don't care how much publicity he gets being interviewed on talk shows and in magazines, if people don't see him fight, he's never going to grow. That's why this fight is so important. I think once they see him fight, they will fall in love with him."

Dunkin is optimistic that the former flyweight and interim super flyweight champion Donaire, 24-1 (16 KO), will be seen by his biggest audience to date this Saturday when he faces former bantamweight champion Wladimir Sidorenko, 22-2-2 (7 KO) in the main event of Top Rank's "In Harm's Way" pay-per-view for the interim WBA bantamweight title at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Originally, the 28-year-old Donaire of San Leandro, Calif. was slated for the co-featured spot, with the ever-popular Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. scheduled to face Alfonso Gomez in the main event. Then Murphy's Law went into effect.

When Gomez withdrew from the bout with an injury, he was replaced briefly by Pawel Wolak. Chavez Jr. then joined Gomez on the sidelines, citing a 103 degree fever just days before fight night.

That left Donaire with big shoes - and seats - to fill.

"In Harm's Way", which will be priced at $44.95 in America, will be distributed in a significant amount more homes than the "Pinoy Power" pay-per-views that have served as Donaire's home since he signed with Top Rank two years ago.

Suffice it to say that losing a pay-per-view and ticket selling powerhouse hurts the promoter's bottom line, but Dunkin sees this as an opportunity to shift some attention towards his fighter after extensive advertising has created advanced buzz for the event.

"This is great for him," Dunkin says. "It's bad for Chavez and bad for Arum, but it's really great for Nonito.

"There's no doubt that with Chavez falling off, it's going to hurt. When we lose those Chavez Jr. people, we're losing a Mexican audience, which shouldn't hurt Donaire. I don't know how many people are gonna watch this but it should be more than a 'Pinoy Power' show. We just need to get as many eyeballs as we can."

Dunkin is quick to point out that Mexican fans will still be pleased by the WBC lightweight title fight which pits the Mexican titlist Humberto Soto against Mexican-American Urbano Antillon in a fight that, even prior to Chavez's withdrawal, was pegged to steal the show.

Donaire's wife Rachel, who helps manage his personal matters, couldn't put an accurate number on the amount of tickets she has personally sold, but said that 200 groups of 2-3 people had picked up $200 and $100 tickets. She did say that Donaire Jr. was 120 pounds - two pounds over the bantamweight - when they exited a sauna room the night before the weigh-in, but was in good spirits and enjoyed a salad before bed.

With a win here against the 34-year-old former WBA titlist of Kiev, Ukraine, Donaire would finally get his opportunity to shine on HBO's Boxing After Dark against a marquee name - something that has eluded him since his star-making one punch knockout of Vic Darchinyan in 2007.

A fight with WBO/WBC bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel is already signed for February 19 - 11 years to the day that Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales gave the HBO series it's first Fight of the Year award. A win over Montiel, who is ranked number 7 by Ring Magazine's pound for pound list, would silence critics who argue that potential talent should not factor into one's pound for pound ranking.

While Donaire has fought twice on Showtime - against Darchinyan and in his last fight against Hernan Marquez - Dunkin says that the exposure has done little to help grow Donaire's popularity. He feels that, for Donaire to truly break out, he has to excel on HBO.

"Nothing against Showtime, but it has a very small viewership," Dunkin says. According to a July 25 New York Times article, Showtime currently boasts 18 million subscribers, compared to HBO, whom the New York Post listed at 28.55 million.

Fighting on Manny Pacquiao undercards would have surely boosted Donaire's viewership - particularly in his target demographic. Yet, despite being the consensus second best Filipino-born fighter on the planet and being under the same promotional banner, Donaire has yet to see exposure on a Pacquiao undercard.

"That's the one thing that [Top Rank and I] have had huge arguments about. I've wanted him on the undercards of Pacquiao and he wants to be on the undercards, too. If he comes out and fights like he did against [Raul] Martinez, who he drilled [in four rounds], and that's the fight before Manny's fight all of those Filipino fans that are there for Manny will think think, 'Hey that guy isn't bad, I like him.'
 
"I think we've missed that by not fighting on his undercards, but [Top Rank President] Todd duBoef disagreed with me, and said that he should build his own following and Bob Arum felt the same way.

While he may never fight beside Pacquiao, he now has a chance to stand on his own.

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to GMANews.TV and the Filipino Reporter newspaper. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia.