By Dan Ambrose: If WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (28-1, 18 KO’s) wants to keep ahead of WBA World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux as the most exciting and popular fighter in the 122 pound division, Donaire, 29, will have to impress tonight against his lanky opponent IBF super bantamweight champion Jeffrey Mathebula (26-3-2, 14 KO’s) at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California.

Donaire simply can’t continue to blame his own poor performances on his opponents being too defensive for him. That’s a bad excuse. Would you ever hear Julian Jackson blaming his opponents for him not being able to KO them? Jackson often had opponents that would fight defensively against him, but he would knock them out anyway.

Donaire hasn’t scored a knockout since last February when he knocked out former super flyweight turned bantamweight Fernado Montiel in the 2nd round. Montiel is a small guy, and hardly a super bantamweight. Donaire then fought a super flyweight in Omar Narvaez despite being the WBC/WBO bantamweight champion. The knockout didn’t come and Donaire, frustrated, blamed it on Narvaez fighting defensively.

Next, Donaire moved up to super bantamweight and captured the vacant WBO super bantamweight title against a fighter that had recently been knocked out in Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Not onlyd did Donaire not get a knockout, but he also took a ton of punishment by Vazquez Jr., who stood eye to eye with Donaire in size. This wasn’t the usual tiny opponent for Donaire to whip on and look against. However, once again Donaire blamed his poor performance on his opponent fighting too defensively and not coming at him the way he wanted him to.

Tonight, Donaire will be facing the biggest opponent of his career in 5’11” Mathebula, and Donaire absolutely needs a knockout if he wants to continue to win over new fans and keep a cushion between himself and Rigondeaux. If Donaire can’t KO Mathebula, he’s likely going to take a lot of punishment from the big South African. It could be a really miserable fight for Donaire, and he won’t be able to blame it on Mathebula for not putting his head on a tee for Donaire to golf.