Boxer Floyd Mayweather to be released from jail Friday

Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the U.S. sits on a stool as he waits for a round to start during his title fight against WBA super welterweight champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 5, 2012.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be released from a Las Vegas jail on Friday after serving two months of a 90-day sentence for domestic violence, a term that was previously postponed so the welterweight fighter could compete in a bout.

Mayweather, a flamboyant athlete regarded as the best defensive boxer of his generation, was booked into jail June 1.

"He is scheduled to be released on the third, but we don't know what time," Las Vegas police spokesman Jose Hernandez said, adding an inmate could be released early for time served, good behavior or as credit for work done in prison. He could not cite a specific reason for the early release.

"It could be a combination of any of those three things," he said.

The unbeaten Mayweather had the start of his jail term delayed in January so he could fight in a May 5 super welterweight bout in Las Vegas, where he defeated Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto.

After that contest, improving his professional record to 43-0, Mayweather discussed a possible fight with Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, his rival for the mythical title of the world's best pound-for-pound fighter.

Mayweather's jail sentence stemmed from a guilty plea in December to a charge of felony battery and pleas of no contest to two counts of harassment linked to a 2010 attack on his ex-girlfriend, Josie Harris, and verbal threats against two of his children with her.

Mayweather was sentenced to six months for that outburst, but half the jail term was suspended.

(Reporting By Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Peter Cooney)