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Magic Johnson: ‘I won’t be watching another one of Manny Pacquiao’s fights’

Magic Johnson attends an event at the White House on Feb. 27, 2014.

Magic Johnson attends an event at the White House on Feb. 27, 2014.

(Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images)
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Magic Johnson is a huge boxing fan and has attended more than one Manny Pacquiao fight in person.

But the former Lakers superstar won’t be on hand when Pacquiao fights Timothy Bradley in April in what is said to be the Filipino boxer’s last bout before retirement.

Johnson says he won’t even tune in on pay-per-view — not after what Pacquiao said about homosexual people this week.

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In response to a question about same-sex marriage during a recent TV interview, the Filipino boxer and politician said, “If we approve [of] male on male, female on female, then man is worse than animals.”

Pacquiao has since apologized for comparing gay people to animals but has stood strong in his stance against homosexuality, using the Bible as his defense.

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Nike ended its business relationship with Pacquiao because of his original remarks. Johnson applauded the move on Twitter.

Johnson went on to point out that gay people are among those who have contributed to Pacquiao’s riches over the years and concluded that the boxer wasn’t going to get another cent from him.

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Johnson has been very supportive of his son E.J., who came out publicly as gay several years ago.

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