Sportswear company Nike announced on Wednesday that it has dropped the champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao after he told an interviewer that gay people are "worse than animals."

In a statement, the company said it opposes discrimination across the board — and therefore had cut ties with the boxing superstar.

According to TMZ, Nike had  already dropped all Pacquiao merchandise from its online store prior to releasing its statement. 

The boxer, who is running for a seat in the Philippines senate, faced swift backlash after he said in an interview that animals "know how to distinguish male from female. If we approve [of] male on male, female on female, then man is worse than animals," he said, according to TMZ.

"It's common sense. Will you see any animals where male is to male and female is to female," Pacquiao asked in a television interview. "The animals are better."

As CBS reported, former NBA player Jason Collins, who was the first player to come out as gay while still playing in the league, quickly condemned Pacquiao's comments. 

Pacquiao posted an apology video in which he apologized "for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals," and asked for forgiveness. 

On Tuesday, the fighter wrote on his Facebook page that he stands by his "belief that I'm against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I'm not condemning LGBT."