Manny Pacquiao never said that gays should be put to death in an interview with the National Conservative Examiner.
The writer who conducted the interview, Los Angeles-based Granville Ampong, wrote on Wednesday that his inclusion of Leviticus 20:13 ("If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads") in the interview - initially read as a quote given by Pacquiao - was Ampong's own addition, given for context in light of the fact that Pacquiao discussed President Obama's recent statements on gay marriage, saying that people should "obey God's law first before considering the laws of man."
However, given the way the controversy gathered attention in social media - and t there's good reason to wonder if the confusion will wind up costing Pacquiao some popularity, and how that may affect the prospect of a bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
Here's a sampling of Twitter traffic concerning Pacquiao in the wake of the controversial "comments."
How Paq gets away with this is beyond me. Floyds career would be OVER with this stuff. PUT TO DEATH? R U KIDDING ME?
— Gabriel Morency (@sportsrage) May 16, 2012
Did Manny Pacquiao say Homosexuals should be put to death?Wonder what would of happened if Mayweather made a comment like that? #JustSayin — Ruben Paul (@ItsRubenPaul) May 16, 2012
"They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” - Pacman
— jerome allen lorico (@acidgrin3) May 16, 2012
Naturally, any campaigns for Pacquiao's sponsors to drop him will lose steam after the revelation that he never actually made the comments in question. However, one wonders about the damage done by the controversy.Of course, Pacquiao is hardly the only high-profile athlete to hold devout religious beliefs - newly acquired New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow being the most prominent example - but Tebow, for one, has never made any public comments on homosexuality, either personally or through his publicist.
That is not to say, of course, that Mayweather will ever wear the "white hat" when it comes to a potential showdown with Pacquiao. As numerous recent profiles have documented - including pieces in Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated - Mayweather's willingness to play the villain is a major component of what's made him such a draw on pay-per-view, and it's not as if anyone who's concerned over Pacquiao's statements on gay marriage will be running to support a man who heads to jail next month to serve a 90-day sentence after he pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge. Still, if Pacquiao's popularity slips - because of either his real views on homosexuality or his imagined ones - the calls for the superfight could grow softer.
Or, the minor flare-up could pass, leaving nothing but the same never-ending questions about why the two biggest draws in boxing can't get together. That seems like the more likely scenario, but time will tell.
