Go ahead and take yourself off the Christmas list, Manny Pacquiao.

The Filipino boxing star, set for his final bout in April, said something incredibly stupid and hateful this past week. By comparing homosexuals and lesbians who come together in same sex marriage to “animals”, Pacquiao quickly went from my favorite boxer to someone I couldn’t care less for. Yeah, it can happen that quick.

Athletes are free to have opinions. Part of what connects them to us. While they are ungodly gifted with a certain talent, they have feelings, beliefs and opinions like the rest of us. If Pacquiao doesn’t belief in same sex marriage, that is fine. PLENTY of people don’t. Hence why it took so long to become a legal thing in the United States of America. When he compares them to animals, he goes to a whole other level. Simply because a man decides to spend their intimate hours with another man, Pacquiao will now classify those two men as animals.

Please, save me the “He believed this before bullshit”. As his adviser Bob Arum would say, keep that stupidity to yourself or go out and take a long breath of fresh air. It’s not what you talked about. It’s about how you talked about.

I don’t care if these same sex laws aren’t resolved in the Philippines. It makes no difference if he said this on Mars, Canada or in Russia. It’s about showing humanity and being respectful. Pacquiao turned himself into a scoundrel.

He can’t take it back either. Nope. I believe that when something comes out of your mouth, it can NOT be taken back. All those times your brother or best friend says something hateful and a day later, they try to erase it by saying “I didn’t mean what I said.” Uh, sure you did. You meant every fucking word. Now it’s all about survival and staying friends so I will claim to have never truly meant those words. Pacquiao meant what he said and any apology will be about accumulating dollars, respect and face. Fuck you Manny.

I have the pleasure of knowing several homosexuals and lesbians. They are great people. They deserve as much respect as anybody. They shouldn’t be lessened because of their sexual orientation. Manny didn’t just insult a few thousand people. He made it harder and riskier for the millions of athletes and people around the world to come out. He insulted millions of people. All with one single comment.

I’ve stayed behind Manny even though he’s made a lot of questionable moves in his life. He only started believing in God when his marriage nearly fell apart and he had to find something to grab a hold of. He was a womanizer and fucked up a lot so why not fall back on the greatest clutch of all. The holy one. Then again, even the most devout Christian may cover his eyes when he saw Manny make the animal comparison. Maybe not.

I don’t care how long Manny has believed this stupid ridiculous notion. It’s just ugly. It’s wrong. Makes me angry. I don’t support athletes, especially ones I claim to be my favorite in a sport, if they hold these terrible beliefs. It’s that simple.

On April 9th, I hope Timothy Bradley climbs into the ring with LGBT on his trunks and kicks Pacquiao’s ass. Sometimes, things can be resolved in the ring. If either of us tried to pummel him, we’d be arrested and prosecuted. Bradley can do it and not only get away with it but get paid for it as well. I never thought I’d say this but Go Desert Storm!

The minute Pacquiao said those words, he lost my respect. Whether he had it in him before is out of my control. I am no longer a Manny Pacquiao fan or supporter. He lost that last week. He will never get it back. Maybe for you or someone else, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s huge for me. There’s no logical reason homosexuals, lesbians and transgender PEOPLE deserve that kind of hatred.

As Trent would say, you’re better than that, Manny.