Mayweather’s Plea Deal

However, once again, fans may be let down. In 2010, a match-up between the two collapsed due to the fighters' inability to come to an agreement on how to handle drug testing and ultimately resulted in a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and his camp for suggesting that Pacquiao was using performance-enhancing drugs.

This time around, the potential breakdown has nothing to do with drug testing and everything to do with Mayweather's personal legal troubles. Last week, a Las Vegas judge sentenced Mayweather to a 90-day jail sentence in connection with a 2010 domestic violence case.

Mayweather is scheduled to begin his sentence on January 6, 2012, in which case he could be released by March 11, 2012. “He will likely spent approximately 65 days in custody,” said Clark County Court spokeswoman Mary Ann Price who took into account 22 days of good behavior credit and three days of credit for time served.

However, because Mayweather likes to call the shots, he went ahead and reserved the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 5, 2012 for his next fight, despite the fact that though no agreement has been reached with the Pacquiao camp. If Mayweather truly expects his next bout to take place on that date, he will not have time for his usual eight weeks of training prior to the event.

Considering his other options though, Mayweather has no room to complain about his sentence. He took a plea deal, avoiding a felony conviction and the possibility of much lengthier prison sentence. Ultimately he pleaded guilty to a lesser domestic-violence misdemeanor charge and no contest to two harassment misdemeanor charges.

The case stemmed from an alleged attack on Josie Harris, Mayweather's ex-girlfriend, in her home in 2010. According to Harris, Mayweather physically assaulted her and threatened two of their children after she admitted that she was dating someone else.

According to prosecutor Liz Luzaich, Mayweather “continually gets himself into trouble” and is able to “get himself out of it as well” simply “because he is who he is.” Luzaich argued that because of his sense of entitlement, the only way to get Mayweather's “attention is incarceration.”

In addition to jail time, the boxer was also ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and complete 100 hours of community service. “Punishment is appropriate. No matter who you are, you have consequences to your actions when they escalate to this level of violence,” said Judge Melissa Saragosa, who imposed the sentenced.

Attorney Karen Winckler is considering an appeal on Mayweather's behalf.

Next week he will be in court again where he is expected to plead no contest to a misdemeanor harassment charge that stems from an incident involving a homeowner association security guard who was poked in the face during a disagreement with Mayweather.

He also has a January 31, 2012 deadline to complete 40 hours of community service with the Las Vegas Habitat for Humanity Project, as ordered by a South Carolina federal judge. According to Catherine Barnes of Habitat for Humanity, Mayweather has not yet started his service, which was ordered after he skipped out on a deposition in a music rights lawsuit.

The boxer has been arrested on a number of occasions for battery and violence in both Las Vegas and Grand Rapids, Michigan.