By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire has done really well when facing short opponents where he’s the much bigger fighter. Recently, Donaire started fighting guys his own size and suddenly he’s not looking good anymore.

Tonight, Donaire will be fighting a guy that’s much bigger than him in 5’11” IBF super bantamweight champion Jeffrey Mathebula at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The only thing I can say about this fight is that Donaire’s promoters at Top Rank must have scouted Mathebula out well for them to put their cash cow Donaire in with him, because we see how Donaire hasn’t been put in with truly dangerous fighters like Guillermo Rigondeaux, Abner Mares, Orlando Salido, Juan Manuel Lopez or Mikey Garcia.

Donaire was supposed to be the next Manny Pacquiao to some boxing fans, yet we’re not seeing anything resembling Pacquiao in performances and the matchmaking for Donaire leaves a lot to be desired. Even though Top Rank has scouted Mathebula well and likely deemed harmless to their fighter, I think Mathebula is good enough to still cause Donaire a lot of problems if he can handle Donaire’s big shots.

The way to get around getting hit by Donaire is go stay on the outside and jab him silly like Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. did. Donaire is terrible at coming forward. He can come forward against little guys that are three to five inches taller than him, but against guys his own size or taller, he’s probably not going to do well unless they run at him like Vic Darchinyan did.

Donaire’s main weapon is his right hook, and that weapon is only good at fighters that come at him making it easy for him to land. If Mathebula stays on the outside and uses his jab, he’s going to have Donaire’s face looking red as the sun. He’s not going to be able to handle it, and we’ll probably see Donaire start running.

I don’t see him shining or keeping up with the performances of fellow Top Rank fighter Rigondeaux, who at this point is taking over the super bantamweight division. It takes talent to stay up with Rigondeaux, and I don’t see Donaire having enough to even come close.