{"id":70993,"date":"2016-02-20T09:18:37","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T14:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=70993"},"modified":"2025-01-12T22:08:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T03:08:52","slug":"manny-pacquiao-says-he-respects-nikes-decision-to-drop-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/02\/20\/manny-pacquiao-says-he-respects-nikes-decision-to-drop-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Manny Pacquiao says he respects Nike&#8217;s decision to drop him"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_56584\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56584\" style=\"width: 632px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/10984480_1433605346943487_7424494510113825280_n.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-56584\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56584\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/10984480_1433605346943487_7424494510113825280_n.jpg\" alt=\"Filipino boxing icon Manny \u201cPacman\u201d Pacquiao (Photo from Pacquiao's official Facebook page)\" width=\"632\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/10984480_1433605346943487_7424494510113825280_n.jpg 632w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/10984480_1433605346943487_7424494510113825280_n-263x300.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-56584\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filipino boxing icon Manny \u201cPacman\u201d Pacquiao (Photo from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MannyPacquiao\" target=\"_blank\">Pacquiao&#8217;s official Facebook page<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>MANILA, Philippines\u2014Boxing star Manny Pacquiao said Thursday that he respects Nike&#8217;s decision to sever ties with him over his comments about gay relationships but stood pat on his opposition to same-sex marriage and added he&#8217;s happy that \u201ca lot of people were alarmed by the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The American apparel giant said Wednesday that it will no longer have any business dealings with the Filipino boxing champion, adding that it found his comments \u201cabhorrent.\u201d Nike says it strongly opposes any kind of discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhatever decision Nike makes is its decision and I respect that and its sponsorship of me now only involves my clothes for my fight,\u201d Pacquiao told reporters during a break in his training for an April 9 bout with Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur contract has already ended aside from sponsoring the boxing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible-quoting Pacquiao, 37, has become an active Christian in recent years and has publicly declared his opposition to same-sex unions.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy vibramycin online <a href=\"https:\/\/healthempire.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/jpg\/vibramycin.html\">https:\/\/healthempire.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/jpg\/vibramycin.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p> When he was asked by a local TV network as a Senate candidate about his views on same-sex marriages, Pacquiao came under fire for his curt reply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s just common sense,\u201d Pacquiao said in the remarks posted online by the TV5 network earlier this week. \u201cHave you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy fildena online <a href=\"https:\/\/healthempire.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/jpg\/fildena.html\">https:\/\/healthempire.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/jpg\/fildena.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Animals, he said, were better because they recognize gender differences, and \u201cif you have male-to-male or female-to-female (relationships), then people are worse than animals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among those who reacted strongly were popular gay celebrities in the country, some of whom declared they have lost their adulation for him.<\/p>\n<p>Even his American boxing promoter Bob Arum has criticized Pacquiao.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat he&#8217;s saying is diametrically opposed to what I believe,\u201d said Arum, who is promoting Pacquiao&#8217;s upcoming fight with Bradley.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy kamagra gold online <a href=\"https:\/\/healthempire.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/jpg\/kamagra-gold.html\">https:\/\/healthempire.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/jpg\/kamagra-gold.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p> \u201cI&#8217;m in favour of gay rights and same-sex marriage. I&#8217;m apologetic personally to the gay movement in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pacquiao has found some allies. An opposition senator, Juan Ponce Enrile, told ABS-CBN TV network that Pacquiao was right, adding that if LGBT groups would insist on same-sex marriage, \u201cit&#8217;s better for them to go to planet Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pacquiao, whose rag-to-riches life story and legend as an eight-division boxing champion have brought honour to his poor Southeast Asian nation and wealth to him, has apologized for hurting people&#8217;s feelings. He added he did not intend to condemn gays.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not condemning the LGBT,\u201d Pacquiao said. \u201cWhat I am condemning is the act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m happier because I&#8217;m telling the truth &#8230; It&#8217;s worse if we will hide the truth,\u201d he said. I&#8217;m happier that a lot of people were alarmed by the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MANILA, Philippines\u2014Boxing star Manny Pacquiao said Thursday that he respects Nike&#8217;s decision to sever ties with him over his comments &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":56584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95,44],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-70993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","category-sports","tag-original","mauthors-jim-gomez","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283075,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70993\/revisions\/283075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}