The boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and his associates on Wednesday tried to quell an uproar incited by an article on a Web site that addressed his opposition to same-sex marriage.

In the article, on Examiner.com, Pacquiao said he opposed President Obama’s support of same-sex marriage. The article included a biblical verse from Leviticus: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

As other publications picked up the story, the verse was attributed as something Pacquiao, who is also a congressman in the Philippines, believed. He said Wednesday in a telephone interview that he had not quoted from, nor had ever read, Leviticus.

“I don’t agree with, and I’m against, gay marriage,” Pacquiao said. “But that’s all. I’m not saying I condemn gay people, or gay marriage. I have relatives who are gay. I have friends who are gay.