Pacquiao may still win senatorship after losing Nike in anti-gay outburst (Reuters)

For all the criticism over his anti-gay comment and the loss of a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike Inc, Philippines world boxing champion Mann Pacquiao still looks set to win election to the country’s senate in May, according to political analysts. Nike, the world’s largest sportswear maker, canceled its contract on Wednesday with the 37 year-old boxer-turned-politician, who has been the world champion in eight different weight divisions, after he described gays as “worse than animals”. “Pacquiao has clearly offended the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community with his comments on same sex marriage, but this group represents a minority and this will not affect the boxer’s popularity among the voters,” Benito Lim, political science professor at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University, told Reuters.