By Chris Williams: Sometimes when fighters move up in weight they don’t bring their power up with them from the division that they departed from. This could be the case with IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KO’s), who at one time was a big puncher when he fought at flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight. But since moving up to super bantamweight, Donaire has had a dry spell where he’s been unable to KO anyone in his two fights at this level.

Donaire fights former WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KO’s) this month for the vacant WBC super bantamweight Diamond title at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Donaire, 29, could really use a knockout in this fight with the 36-year-old Nishioka because if he can’t get this guy out of there he’s going to end up taking a lot of nasty head shots from the Japanese fighter.

Donaire looks terrible when he gets a lot because his face swells up and he looks bad. Nishioka may be getting older and has lost a dozen steps in his game but he’s still a big puncher. If Donaire can’t knock this guy out he’s going to get badly marked up. I still believe Donaire can win a decision against Nishioka. I’m not crazy. Nishioka almost lost to a shot Rafael Marquez in his last fight, and has beaten by plenty of fighters as it is during his career.

Donaire’s knockout drought actually started after his KO of the smallish Fernando Montiel, who you could hardly call a real bantamweight. Donaire then fought super flyweight Omar Narvaez in a bantamweight bout and couldn’t do anything with him. Narvaez easy nullified Donaire’s main weapon his left hook by keeping his guard up to block the shots all night long. Without his left hook, Donaire was like a giant fly with it’s wings cut off. He couldn’t do anything with Narvaez and ended up looking frustrated. I guess Donaire that was just going to be a tiny blip in his career, but it wasn’t.

Donaire followed that sorry performance with a fight against Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., who lit up Donaire’s face like a red stop light by tagging him with a ton of jabs. Again, Donaire won the fight but his power had no affect on Vazquez Jr. and he was forced to win the fight by a 12 round decision. And, finally in Donaire’s last fight, he had to struggle to defeat Jeffrey Mathebula, losing a lot of rounds and unable to KO him even while landing flush countless times.

I think what we’re seeing here is that Donaire just doesn’t have the power to dominate at super bantamweight. He’ll do well as long as he fights old guys like Nishioka, paper champions like Mathebula and guys that are coming off of a recent knockout like Vazquez Jr. was. But Donaire won’t be able to beat the best guys in the super bantamweight division like Abner Mares or Guillermo Rigondeaux. Of course, Top Rank probably won’t even let Donaire fight those guys, so he won’t have to worry too much about losing to them.