Ryan Garcia paused to worship Jesus moments before stepping into the ring for his welterweight title victory at the weekend.
The 27-year-old was filmed in his dressing room praying as a live band played well-known Christian worship songs. Garcia sat with his eyes closed and hands raised while the musicians sang: “Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for, to be overcome by your presence, Lord.”
In a separate clip, Garcia stood in a tight huddle with the band as they prayed over him ahead of his walkout to a sell-out crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
“God I lift up this night. I lift up this man, your son,” one of the singers prayed.
“Heavently father, he chooses to glorify you tonight. With every moment, with everything that he thinks, may he glorify you. We claim victory in your name, we ask for your presence to surround him in the ring, in the whole stadium. Where your grace is, you are present.
“We lift up any anxiety he has, any fears, we replace that with peace in your name...we lay it all out there for you tonight...we walk in your plans, we follow your path. God, your spirit is here. We pray for protection over him right now. We declare strength, clarity of mind... that you will be with him every step of the way tonight.”
Garcia then carried that momentum into the ring, dropping Mario Barrios with a right hand inside the opening 30 seconds. He went on to secure a unanimous decision victory - his first win since a shock points defeat to Rolando Romero last year.
In his post-fight interview, Garcia immediately turned his attention to Shakur Stevenson, the WBO super-lightweight champion, who was in attendance.
“You know who I want, he's right there,” Garcia said. “Shakur Stevenson, let's go!”
