Floyd Mayweather to Jail: Why Manny Pacquiao Should Agree to Fight Money May Now

With the news breaking of undefeated welterweight boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. being sentenced to 90 days in county jail in Las Vegas, this is a prime time for Manny Pacquiao to go ahead and get a deal for the mega-fight signed.

Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) was sentenced to the 90 days after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges from his domestic-violence case involving the mother of his children back in 2010. As part of this plea agreement, prosecutors also dropped the felony charges against the fighter.

The time is now for Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) to get his promoter, Bob Arum, to do whatever it takes to get a fight signed with Mayweather, ending a three-year-long wait to have the fight come to fruition.

Pacquiao could try to capitalize on Mayweather being away from his gym and normal routine for the 90 days he is scheduled to serve behind bars, which could give him a much-needed confidence boost going into the fight.

Boxers thrive on routine, their training camp is a routine, and Mayweather being out of his routine would likely hurt Mayweather's preparation, which would obviously benefit Pacquiao if this mega-fight were to happen.

Although it is in Pacquiao's best interest to get the fight signed up for Mayweather's proposed May 5 date, I feel that Money May will not be affected as much as many think he will by the three-month jail stint, and my guess is that he will actually use it as motivation for the ring instead.

Since the 90-day sentence would last until the first week of April, the proposed May 5 date will be a no-go. That would leave Mayweather with just one month to train, all while getting acclimated back to life outside of jail.

Pacquiao could also use Mayweather's distractions as a motivating factor to sign the fight. We all know Mayweather has won time after time while dealing with distractions, but this time could be different, as Money has never had to deal with a jail sentence.

So perhaps the fight could instead take place sometime in July or September, a delay of just a few more months. That shouldn't be a big deal considering we've already waited three years for the fight.

In all, Mayweather's acceptance of the plea deal and his relatively lenient 90-day jail sentence will play to his advantage if it sparks Pacquiao and Arum to get the fight signed once Mayweather is a free man again.

Follow Mick on Twitter: @mickakers