Mayweather Goes To Jail as Boxing Reaches Its' Darkest Hour Yet

Floyd Mayweather was one of the last remaining superstar boxers, jail time might end his career.

ESPN.com-LAS VEGAS -- Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a perfect 42-0 in the ring and has dodged significant jail time several times in domestic violence cases in Las Vegas and Michigan.

But his courtroom streak came to an end Wednesday when a Las Vegas judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to a reduced battery domestic violence charge and no contest to two harassment charges.

The case stemmed from a hair-pulling, punching and arm-twisting argument with his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris while two of their children watched in September 2010.

"Punishment is appropriate," Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa said after a prosecutor complained that Mayweather has been in trouble before and hasn't faced serious consequences.

"No matter who you are, you have consequences to your actions when they escalate to this level of violence," she said.

Good behavior could knock several weeks off Mayweather's sentence. but he will likely serve most of the sentence set to begin Jan. 6, said Officer Bill Cassell, a Las Vegas police spokesman.

Remember the days of Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard? No, I don't either, but I've heard a lot about it from the older generation, and it sounds absolutely magical. I'll tell you what I've seen a lot of highlights of Holyfield, Tyson and Lenox Lewis throwing wild rights and knocking out their opponents at will. But still, even those days are long, long gone for boxing.

The last time boxing was truly relevant in the sports world, Lenox Lewis was slaughtering opponents, then he retired in 2004 and the boxing world crumbled. He was the last superstar heavyweight; the last superstar who could deliver a right hook sending his opponent into limbo. The heavyweight fighter gave way to the welterweight/lightweight fighter and boxing hasn't been the same since.

Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya led the resurgence for boxing in the mid-2000s, but to no avail. The '07 De La Hoya-Mayweather fight was supposed to signal the ultimate return for boxing, but like most welterweight fights it finished with no knockout and a slew of casual boxing fans confused. Mayweather won the split decision, but boxing really lost the bout. Boxing had an opportunity to reign in the world and to get its blasé following back. Instead it just once again reaffirmed its insignificance, and left people turned off and annoyed. People had dropped some 50+ dollars on this pay-per-view fight and they got a bunch of jabs and nothing to write home about.

Yet in 2010, boxing once again had an opportunity to emerge from the shadows as a bout between up-and-comer Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. was heavily discussed. But once Mayweather asked Pacquiao for a blood test 14 days talks got rocky. Pacquiao finally accepted the deal and the ball was in Mayweather's court to sign a fight deal. Mayweather, for a reason still unknown, did not sign the deal, and the sport slipped into an even deeper hole. Right when things couldn't get worst for the boxing world, Floyd Mayweather was sentenced to 90 days in jail for domestic abuse.

Mayweather's arrest should send the sport of formal fisticuffs into a depression I don't see it getting out of. The free-swinging superstar surprised no one by going to jail, but owes a major apology for the sport. He, along with Pacquiao, remain the only superstars in the sport. Yet, if they don't fight soon, they might find themselves in the ranks of the obscure. Even worse for boxing, MMA, the world's most brutal sport, is taking over the role of "popular" fighting sport.

Hopefully for boxing and Mayweather's sake, he'll man up and fight Pacquiao, and if the two do end up fighting, there better be a knockout. A out-cold knockout.