Boxing promoter Bob Arum denied that Manny Pacquiao was offended being featured in a supporting bout under the welterweight title clash between Jeff Horn and Terence Crawford.

Arum said Pacquiao has other reasons for pulling out of the April 14 card and being “insulted” isn’t one of them.

"There are reasons . . . it's not that he's fighting Mike Alvarado, it has nothing to do with him potentially being on the undercard. That had never been discussed with Manny. There are good reasons why he is not fighting on April 14th and because they were told to me in confidence I'm not going to discuss it," the Top Rank Inc. CEO said in an article posted on BoxingScene.com Friday.

Zonio Aquiles, Pacquiao’s media manager, reportedly told RingTV.com that taking second billing in the Horn-Crawford headliner would be an “insult” to Pacquiao.

• ‘Insulted’ to be relegated to supporting bout, Pacquiao ditches April 14 fight: report

But Arum maintained that wasn’t the reason Pacquiao backed out. He also stressed that everything’s good between them.

"There's no friction between Manny and myself and there's no, 'I wanted to fight this guy, not that guy . . . ' There was none of that. There's a reason he isn't on April 14th and I'll just leave it at that," he said.

He acknowledged that Pacquiao preferred fighting welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse of Argentina instead of Alvarado, but he said it’s easier said than done.

“There's certainly nothing wrong with a Lucas Matthysse, he's a nice kid and he's a good fighter. But I'm not exploring anything until I see the money," said Arum.

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