by Jason Kim: There has been comparisons between Nonito Donaire (23-1, 15 KO’s) and Manny Pacquiao for the past year or so, with some boxing fans feeling that Donaire can follow in Pacquiao’s big footsteps while others think that Donaire doesn’t have the toughness, the build or the talent to come even close to what Pacquiao has accomplished thus far.

It’s a tough question because the 27-year-old Donaire hasn’t had the fights that would give you a feeling one way or another whether he can be good enough. We saw Donaire at his best back in 2007 when he stopped then IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan in the 5th round with some powerful left hooks.

But since then, Donaire’s opponents have been less than thrilling. You can’t say that Donaire has lost three years, but you can say that he hasn’t had one big fight in all that time. This Saturday night, Donaire with be taking on Hernan Marquez, a fighter that hits hard, but who was beaten in his last fight.

We won’t learn anything from that fight, as Donaire will be fighting someone who just got beat himself. In contrast, by the time that Pacquiao was 27, he had already fought guys like Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Eric Morales, Agapito Sanchez, Jorge Solis and Emmanuel Lucero. Those are all good fighters.

Donaire has fought pretty much only Darchinyan in terms of talented and well known opposition. It wasn’t good seeing Donaire struggle last year in his fight with a tough Rafael Concepcion. Donaire looked flustered and uncomfortable with the brawling of Concepcion. Had that been Pacquiao in the ring with Concepcion, I think there’s an excellent chance that Concepcion would have been stopped by Pacquiao. That’s the kind of opponent that Pacquiao loves to fight and instead of getting nervous, Pacquiao would really thrive in a fight against Concepcion.

I think Donaire is a good fighter, but I think he’ll never been anywhere close to being as good as Pacquiao. I see Donaire being someone that will do good at his current weight, but I think he’ll have problems when he moves up in weight against more powerful fighters.

I can’t see Donaire duplicating what Pacquiao has done and dominate each weight class as he goes up. Donaire doesn’t have the same hand speed and power that Pacquiao possesses, and doesn’t seem to thrive in battling like Pacquiao. Donaire seems more comfortable when he’s fighting on the outside, picking off his opponents with shots and trying to not get hit.