By Keith Idec

Manny Pacquiao reiterated on a conference call Friday that his infamous anti-gay comments were taken out of context and not meant to offend anyone.

The deeply religious Pacquiao, a congressman who’s running for a senate seat in his native Philippines, told a Filipino television station in mid-February that those involved in same-sex relationships are “worse than animals.” The superstar southpaw, who’ll fight Timothy Bradley for the third time April 9 in Las Vegas (HBO Pay-Per-View), lost his endorsement deal with Nike once those comments were broadcast and was widely criticized.

The 37-year-old Pacquiao publicly apologized once his comments caused such a commotion, but emphasized later that he is against same-sex relationships because it goes against what’s in The Bible.

“That interview is about five to 10 minutes, but they cut it,” Pacquiao said during a conference call Friday. “They showed [only part of it]. I say there’s too much politics in the Philippines.”

Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) didn’t detail exactly how his controversial comments were taken out of context. When asked how he has been treated publicly since making those comments, Pacquiao said people have been respectful and that he has gone out of his way to clarify what he meant.

“I’ve had reactions from different people,” Pacquiao said. “I explain it to them properly, that who am I to condemn them? … No one is condemning no one, so I’m just explaining [it] and that’s it. I apologized for using words that [are offensive] and that’s all.”

His comments Friday were similar to what he told the Los Angeles Times two weeks ago.

“I was misquoted,” Pacquiao said. “If you watch and listen to the whole interview, it’s not only one or two minutes. It’s five to 10 minutes. If you watch the whole interview, you would understand it. The context was lost. I want [people] to watch the whole interview.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.