By Jake Donovan

“The next Manny Pacquiao.”

Just as Kobe Bryant was marketed as “the next Michael Jordan” before proving to be great enough to become the first Kobe Bryant, “the next Manny Pacquiao” is the label you can expect to be applied to any Filipino fighter threatening to become a viable commodity.

In a more creative society, current flyweight titlist Nonito Donaire is an easy sell on his own.

There arguably isn’t a better flyweight on the planet; he also currently ranks among the sport’s very best pound for pound fighters.

At a hair under 5’7” and with a 68” wingspan, rare is the opponent over which he doesn’t enjoy a considerable height and reach advantage.

More than 15,000 fans filed into the Arenata Coliseum in Quezon City for his last fight, a fourth round knockout of Raul Martinez, confirming his status as a rising star. The fight was along the lines of most of his other 22 career bouts to date, which is to say that it was entertaining and one-sided in Donaire’s favor.

Yet for all of the accolades, attached with almost any question directed at the 26-year old Filipino is a reference to the island’s greatest attraction – Manny Pacquiao.

The worst part isn’t that Donaire already knows it, but that he’s already learned to live with it.

“Everybody will be tied to Pacquiao, he is a great champion and for me it is an honor to be a part of that,” acknowledged Donaire (21-1, 14KO), who seems to spend more time talking about life under Pacquiao’s shadow than the next challenge presently awaiting him.

Donaire’s next ring appearance sees a return to his pre-title weight of 115 lb, where he takes on Rafael Concepcion in a pay-per-view headliner at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this weekend (Saturday, Top Rank PPV, 9PM ET/6PM PT).

It will mark his second straight top billing in the “Pinoy Power” pay-per-view series, which debuted three months ago with Donaire’s aforementioned knockout of Martinez.

Such a series is most likely never launched if not for the popularity of Pacquaio, whose incredible ascension through the ranks over the course of the past decade and change has unearthed the fastest rising market in the sport today.

The greatest irony is that Pacquiao will more than likely never appear on the series, at least not as an in-ring participant. Because of that, the hunt is on for Manny v2.0. In turn, this means that will be a while before Nonito Donaire can be known as… Nonito Donaire.

For the moment, it’s of little concern.

“I don’t worry about being labeled. For me it is a part that I bring and how I feel when I get into that ring or being the best that I can be like Pacquiao had shown. It’s about having the heart of a champion and being able to do anything.”

His handlers try to insist that he is too humble to dismiss any comparisons, but Donaire himself makes point of contention a tough sell. Among the long list of his positive qualities include his honesty and his well-spoken nature.

The son of a schoolteacher (fittingly enough, in the same school where both Nonito and Pacquaio attended), Donaire never hesitates to answer all questions, nor does he offer vague, open-ended responses.

In a lot of ways, the way he carries himself outside of the ring mirrors how he gets down between the ropes. He’s all business from the opening bell until night’s end, at which point you have a definitive view of Donaire’s potential and ability.

It’s how he won his first major title in the pro ranks, a 5th round knockout of previously unbeaten Vic Darchinyan two summers ago.

Prior to the career-defining win, Donaire’s nationwide coverage was limited to sporadic appearances on ESPN2 and Showtime’s Shobox series. He was first introduced to stateside audiences in May 2005, scoring a 6th round stoppage of Paulino Villalobos on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights series.

Eight months later came his Showtime debut, a strangely scored split decision over Kahren Harutyunyan, in which Donaire was the apparent clear winner, only for his opponent’s more aggressive (albeit ineffective) approach proving enough to sway one of the three judges.

The win marked Donaire’s 13th straight, advancing his record to 14-1 overall. However, it wasn’t enough to sway the network brass to jump on his bandwagon.

“Early in my career I could not get a fight; I was the one that was chosen on two days notice.  I never had the choice to make things happen.”

Such had been the case ever since he turned pro, which came in 2001 after a failed bid to make the US Olympic boxing squad. Though born in the Philippines, Donaire and his family relocated to California in 1993, at which point he resumes his amateur career.

All told, he went 68-8 in the unpaid ranks, ending with a loss to Brian Viloria in efforts to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics. His pro debut would come less than a year later, which was followed up by his lone career loss to date.

He would resume his winning ways as well as sign with renowned boxing manager Cameron Dunkin. Twenty wins have followed in all, but none spoke louder than his upset knockout of Darchinyan in July 2007.

A perfectly timed left hook had the brash Armenian down and completely out of it, scoring among the year’s most spectacular upsets and knockouts in one fell swoop. An added bonus came in his avenging a humiliating defeat suffered a year prior by his younger brother, Glenn.

 

It was enough to get the Filipino back on Showtime’s airwaves, not the easiest feat considering the struggles lower weight fighters endure in enjoying any network coverage at all. But he made the most of the opportunity, easily stealing the show in a December 2007 tripleheader also featuring Vernon Forrest and Antonio Tarver.

Unfortunately, it would be his last standout performance for a while. Barely a peep career-wise was heard from Donaire until a very vocal split with then-promoter Gary Shaw was announced last summer, eventually signing with Top Rank.

All told. Donaire spent 11 months out of the ring until returning last November with a 6th round cuts-induced stoppage of Moruti Mthalane. It was a rare performance in which Donaire failed to leave an impression on the viewing audience, though nearly a year’s worth of ring rust can affect even the best of them.

The lengthy period of inactivity wasn’t all that came to an end with that fight. So too did the longtime corner relationship with his father, Nonito Sr.

“My Dad and I had a falling out and I haven’t trained with him since that last fight.  I have been training with the Peñalosa brothers for the Martinez fight and this fight.”

Rare is the moment when any good comes from a father-son split, but Donaire insists it was the right move to make – between the ropes, that is.

The team right now is charging me to train really hard. They are sharpening everything that my Dad has taught me, and the foundation that he gave me. I am trained so that every decision that is made in the ring is on me.”

Including the decision to compromise the relationship with his father, though efforts are being made to heal the wounds.

“There was anger and misunderstanding (with my Dad) but it will be OK when we get back.  When I see him I go up to him and talk, but talking on the phone, we have not done that.”

What he’s also yet to do is enjoy the type of network coverage that can remind fans of just how special he is, or at least has the potential to become. Saturday’s fight will mark his third straight on an independently produced Top Rank pay-per-view show.

It’s the necessary route to travel if it means Donaire remaining active. Such plans could change as he continues to rise in weight. Though only now returning three pounds north to super flyweight, Donaire has flirted with the idea of one day fighting as high as lightweight.

Until he can naturally put on the weight, more in house pay-per-views are in his future, though for that he certainly has the right promoter. Top Rank has never been shy about dipping into its own pockets to move its fighters; Donaire is clearly no exception to that rule.

In fact, he’s become the new standard, with a pay-per-view series all but centered on him. After all, who else in their stable can headline a card carrying a “Pinoy Power” tagline?

Well, there’s one obvious answer, which brings Donaire back to square one. But while he continues to strive to create his own identity, he’ll gladly take the benefits that come with fighting under the blanket of his countryman’s skyrocketing popularity.

It certainly beats the hell out of the way things were.

“When I tried to sign with managers in the past I was told that Filipinos were not marketable. I was told that Filipino fighters couldn’t break and egg, but Manny has helped change all of that and we are thankful for everything he has done for the Filipino boxing world.”

Donaire exudes such pride in and out of the ring. The homecoming this past April was among the best performances of his career, once again dismantling a previously unbeaten flyweight with relative ease. It was a performance to which he credits the support of his countryman, including the 15,000 strong that packed the arena and cheered his every move.

Though his next payday comes some 5,000 miles away in Las Vegas, it doesn’t stop Donaire from representing his roots.

He will enter the ring donning yellow trunks in honor of Corazon Aquino, the first-ever female President of the Philippines (and any other Asian country) who passed away earlier this month. Yellow was Aquino’s favorite color, though just enough Filipino red will also be incorporated into the ring attire, “just because of who I am.”

There’s no questioning his being Filipino to the core, even if for the moment most of the popularity he enjoys comes on the heels of Pac-mania.

So long as he keeps winning and in impressive fashion, there will come a day when less and less pressure is felt to serve as the next Manny Pacquiao.

That day will come when fans realize he’s great enough to be boxing’s first Nonito Donaire.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .