It is not the popularity that make the boxer becoming famous but it was from their ability and capacity,and yes you are right if they will be compared in same years starting career Mannys popularity is lessen you know why.becaue manny came from the Philippines in which poorer than Japan and the local media cannot make noise like what japans media can.and also that one when Pacquiao was started social media wasn’t that famous and used compared as what we have today,today in just one Post from Facebook million people may watch or comment but not 20 years ago
Lol, when you are popular you are also famous as they are synonymous. Manny became famous/popular in the US because of his fighting style. He is of a brawler and all of his fights in the US were action packed and Americans greatly appreciated it. With regards to Inoue, even with social media, still he is not that popular worldwide though he is popular in Japan. With this fight with Donaire, his presence is starting to be noticed in the boxing community and it would be boasted if he beat Donaire.
We know Inoue is a good fighter too, but we can't compare him to Manny yet in terms of accomplishment.
I believe what made Manny more popular is because he is a beast inside the ring but he had a good attitude outside, he also proven that a boxer can have a lot accomplishment outside boxing because he became a congressman and now a senator.
We will see if how fans will accept Inoue when he fight in the US, there's a lot of things he needs to prove and he need to be nice like Manny if he wants to be popular not only in the US but all over the world.
Mayweather is good, actually better than Manny and he fights in the US but who has the biggest no. of fans when Manny and Mayweather fight, of course obviously Manny as we bear boos for Mayweathers while cheers for Manny.