Athletic footwear and sports apparel giant Nike brought its endorsement contract with the Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao to an end on Wednesday, after the boxer-politician's derogatory remarks about same-sex couples.

"We find Manny Pacquiao's comments abhorrent," the American multinational corporation said in a statement. "Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community."

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Pacquiao, 37, had endorsed Nike for eight years. But following the Filipino fighter's comment, a spokesman has confirmed that the three-time BWWA Fighter of the Year winner is no longer on Nike's endorsement register.

According to the report of ESPN's Darren Rovell, Pacquiao said on Thursday that he respects the company's decision to drop him but stood by his disapproval of same-sex marriage.

Pacquiao's original remarks were made on a Filipino television station earlier this week

"Have you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?" Pacquiao said. "If you have male-to-male or female-to-female [relationships], then people are worse than animals."

The former pound-for-found king apologized on Twitter within hours of his comments.

Top Rank's CEO and promoter of Pacquiao Bob Arum said that he understood Nike's decision to end the deal and even added that he would have done the same.

Pacquiao will be fighting Timothy Bradley for the third time on April 9. The fight is expected to be his last. He is currently seeking a Senatorial post in the coming May 2016 National election in the Philippines, which many believe will eventually lead him to seek the country's presidency.

Pacquiao is not the only known sports celebrity to be involved in an uproar over gay rights.

Rajon Rondo of the Sacramento Kings, Joakim Noah of Chichago Bulls and Kobe Bryant of LA Lakers have all been associated with making anti-gay comments on different occasions. Like Pacquiao, all the three players apologized for the comment. 

Tagsmanny pacquiao, Bob Arum, Top Rank, Nike