Boxer Ryan Garcia Prayed for Francisco Fonseca Before Knocking Him Out

Ryan Garcia says he knew he was going to knock out his opponent on Friday night — which he did, BTW — so he sent a little prayer up to the man upstairs on behalf of the guy.

We talked to the lightweight boxing sensation Friday at an after-party following his vicious one-punch, first-round knock out of Francisco Fonseca — and Ryan tells us point blank … he knew it would happen, and actually asked God to wake the dude up sooner than later.

ICYMI, it was a spectacular hit, and now Ryan’s the talk of the town in boxing. People are calling him a phenom, and also the new poster boy of the sport. You can see why.

Word around the ring is … Floyd Mayweather‘s protege, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, took about 8 rounds or so put down Fonseca not too long ago — and Ryan did it in a matter of seconds.

Obviously, the chatter about a potential matchup here is in full swing — but Ryan doesn’t wanna rush things, and actually wants to prove himself first with other opponents. Check it out … he gives a list of names of guys he’d like to see first before Tank.

Spoiler … sounds like he’s confident he can take all of them down, and has a message for Floyd too.

BTW, Ryan had a subtle tribute to the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, on his trunks during the Valentine’s Day bout — and he broke it down for us here too.