Christian boxer Manny Pacquiao has posted then deleted a Bible verse on his Instagram account saying men who have sex with other men should be "put to death".

The latest controversy comes after his sponsor Nike dropped him for "abhorrent" comments on people in same-sex marriage being "worse" than animals.

ABS CBN reported that in his latest social media outing on the subject, Pacquiao quoted Leviticus 20:13: "Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable... 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."

More than 18,000 users on Instagram "liked" the post in the two hours it was online before it was deleted.

The post repeated Bible quotes on putting homosexuals to death the boxer had cited as long ago as 2012.

At the time, Pacquiao said: "Hindi ako nagsabi niyan, kasinungalingan iyan. Hindi ko alam iyang verse ng Leviticus kasi hindi pa ako nakabasa ng Leviticus."

This translates as him claiming he never said it: "I do not know this verse of Leviticus because I never read Leviticus."

In the latest post, the boxer also quoted from St Luke's gospel: "Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets."

In an interview on DZMM Teleradyo, he also said he is in favor of the death penalty which he described as "biblical".

Pacquiao, who is running for Senate, has apologised for his comment about same-sex marriage and animals.