Ryan Garcia and Gervonta "Tank" Davis were apparently close to fighting recently -- but, it wasn't inside of the ring ... it was at a nightclub, where Garcia says the two boxers got into a heated altercation.
Garcia explained the situation on an Instagram Live stream on Wednesday ... saying he and his friend approached Tank's table at a club and asked the 27-0 boxer when they were going finally set up a fight.
"I guess he got offended by that," Garcia said of Davis. "Got all worked up."
Garcia says Tank grabbed onto his chain .