Former three-time world boxing champion Shane Mosley is 39 years old and will turn 40 several months after his fight against reigning pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao.

Unlike vintage wines, aging in boxing is a painful and pitiful sight except on rare occasions. Very few reach their 40s and still remain competitive in boxing, unlike golf and chess when such an age bracket is oftentimes a thing of beauty.

Even then, they were mere shadows of themselves and most likely faced competition that wasn’t in their league during their primes.

George Foreman was 45 when he re-captured a piece of the boxing glory he held when he was the terror of the rings during the ’70s.

In 1994 he knocked out Michael Moorer to win the world Boxing Association heavyweight title. In case you don’t know Moorer, don’t despair. Many of today’s boxing fans only vaguely remember him as Freddie Roach’s assistant during Pacquiao’s training for the Ricky Hatton fight.

Former light heavyweight champion Archie Moore was was 46 when he challenged a guy named Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight crown. He lost by knockout in four rounds.

Bernard Hopkins tried to win another boxing title last month and would have been the oldest champion had he won the controversial fight that ended in a draw. He turns 46 years old on Saturday. His opponent Jean Pascal, however, does not register as a top notch boxer like Felix Trinidad and Oscar de la Hoya.

Now back to Shane Mosley.

The guy who wishes to hand Manny his first defeat since the Filipino’s last loss to Erik Morales way back in 2005 is not by any means a shot fighter. But he has seen better days and did not win his last two fights. He lost to Floyd Mayweather in May last year and figured in a lackluster draw with Sergio Mora the following August.

Mosley is an intelligent boxer with above average power and likes his opponents coming straight at him. He knows how to pounce on the slightest mistake of his opponent, especially those he knows he can bully. But he also has problems with boxers who have excellent lateral movement and blinding footwork.

Manny often leaves himself open and has the tendency to lunge his punches. His defense against this weakness is his ability to quickly disappear from trouble. Somebody has yet to tag Manny with a combo of seven to eight punches without reply. Oftentimes, if not all times, Pacquiao’s counterattacks are even deadlier.

Shane will have his moments, especially now that Pacquiao has fallen in love with playing possum and allowing his opponents to hit him while covering himself up.

He did it against Miguel Angel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito perhaps to demonstrate that although he is small by comparison to them, he can take their punches.

Of the three, perhaps only Clottey is the lighter puncher than Mosley. I don’t see Mosley hurting Manny when the Filipino again displays such bravado.

But Mosley better watch where Manny is going after throwing those lead left straights.

Lefty as he is, few appreciate Manny’s footwork and foot speed, among the best in the sport.

As much as I would like to sip the oldest wine in the cellar, I believe it is the San Miguel Light guzzler Pacquiao who wins the fight. By knockout if it goes the short distance.