Manny Pacquiao has reportedly posted a quote on social media that calls for gay men to be put to death.

The boxer has come under fire for an interview in his native Philippines earlier this week in which he described gay couples as "worse than animals". His sponsor Nike has since ditched him for the "abhorrent" remarks, while Pacquiao has apologised for causing offence without retracting the statement.

In a post made to his Instagram on Wednesday that has since been deleted, Pacquiao posted a picture of him and his wife together alongside several excerpts from the Bible with anti-gay interpretations.

One excerpt, from Leviticus 20:13, reads: "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."

Pacquiao's post had been 'liked' more than 18,000 times before it was removed.