The writing is clearly on the wall. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will both put their world titles on the line in 2012, just not against each other.

The long awaited and highly anticipated mega-fight between the two encountered yet another obstacle when Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa sentenced Mayweather Jr. to 90 days in jail, then ordered him to complete 100 hours of community service, pay a $2,500 fine and complete a yearlong domestic violence program.

The punishment was handed down after Mayweather, on the advice of his high-priced attorneys, chose to plead guilty to a reduced battery domestic violence charge and no-contest to two harassment charges. He will report to jail and begin serving his sentence Jan. 6.

So far, the WBC has supported its current welterweight title holder and appears to be taking a wait and see approach. According to WBC regulations, when a champion or highly ranked fighter is incarcerated for a crime, he is stripped of his title or removed from the rankings entirely.

A WBC executive stated the organization was created to protect fighters and they plan to meet and review the Mayweather case. He also claimed their ruling would try to achieve a fair outcome for the fighter and the fans.

Rather than waste any more time discussing the current case, a number of prior cases, or even pending litigation, in all fairness to Floyd (he’s shown an astounding ability to come away unscathed), let’s focus on the impact on a possible showdown with Pacquiao.

Neither camp seems to have much to say about the recent developments and both have stayed away from offering up any quotes. In fact, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said, "I have absolutely no comment on anything."

A spokeswoman for Golden Boy, who promoted Mayweather’s past five fights said CEO Richard Shaefer left the office after hearing the news and has not released any statement.

Finally, Karen Winckler, a Mayweather defense team attorney is said to be considering an appeal. If an appeal is made, it would delay things even more and put a possible showdown even further down the road than it already is said to be.

In short, it appears everyone involved has come to the conclusion that a possible May 5 fight date will not come to fruition.

More importantly, it’s becoming obvious that the two sides weren’t ever truly close to making this fight happen in the coming months. When you factor in the negotiation process that would need to take place once again after Mayweather is released, even with a reduced sentence the earliest I can see this fight happening is a year from now.

And truthfully, I think that may even be too soon.

When Ali faced Frazier for the third time in the classic "Thrilla in Manila" Muhammad was 33 and Joe 31. They had already met twice before in what many consider to be their "prime". Even if Mayweather and Pacquiao were to fight in the summer of 2012, Floyd would be about 36 and Manny almost 36.

Though most agree both are at their "peak" and have plenty left, the longer they wait the more age will come into question.

As stated in a past column, my sources indicated Pacquiao’s next fight would be against Timothy Bradley. TB turned down what would have been his biggest pay-day to face Amir Khan, and simultaneously signed on with Top Rank.

Even though Bob Arum was adamant the deal didn’t come with a Pac-Man guarantee, we’re not naïve enough to believe it wasn’t part of the conversation.

Names being tossed around at the moment as possible opponents for Pacquiao include Juan Manuel Marquez IV, Miguel Cotto II and Bradley.

Personally, I don’t believe there would be much interest in a rematch with Cotto since Pacquiao disposed of him rather easily. A fourth fight against Marquez would bring with it way too much risk when compared to reward for Manny.

It’s no secret that JMM has proven to be a tough opponent and another close fight would definitely be expected. More importantly, the definitive answer as to who is better would continue to come into question based on their prior bouts.

Even though there would surely be interest from a fans perspective, I don’t think Top Rank will go that route. So that takes us back to where I thought it would lead even before these current issues with Mayweather – a fight between Pacquiao and Bradley.

It’s now almost a guarantee that we will not get the opportunity to finally see Floyd fight Manny. But we can find some comfort in knowing that historically, even though it may take some time, boxing almost always gives us the fights we want to see.

At times they’ve come much later than we would have wanted, but like they say, "Better late than never." For now though, I wouldn’t hold my breath because from the looks of it, the "Biggest Fight Ever" is once again on hold.

2011 record: 36-17 (68%)

(By-Line: Vegas-Runner, a professional sports bettor in Las Vegas, has been featured on CNBC and ESPN. He holds the Sports Monitor record for "Most Units Won" in a single year and all sports combined. Follow him on Twitter @vegasrunner and at Pregame.com)