Boston Red Sox

Morning sports update: Here’s Alex Cora’s challenge to Rafael Devers in 2019

Also: Jackie Bradley Jr. is off to a good spring training start, the Bruins got mic'd up, and a classic boxing anniversary.

Alex Cora and Rafael Devers after winning the World Series.

By Hayden Bird

3 minutes to read

The Bruins and Celtics both return to action tomorrow. The Bruins host the Sharks on Tuesday at 7 p.m., while the Celtics are in Toronto to play the Raptors at 8 p.m.

Alex Cora challenged Rafael Devers to be more like a Yankee counterpart: Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers is only 22 years old, and, having played only a part of 2017, he’s entering what will be just his second season in the majors. Now, Red Sox manager Alex Cora wants him to be like a rival: Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar.

“If this kid clicks the way Andujar did with the Yankees, we’re that much better offensively,” Cora said of Devers. “The kid Andujar, he was amazing last year. He was great for New York, and hopefully our 22-year-old kid can do the things he did in September and October, because that was a good player. I was very happy with the way he played in September. After that, after he went to the rehab assignment, he was another player.”

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“Yeah, I can do that,” Devers said of the challenge. “I think I can do that. Last year, I had a bad year, but it wasn’t really a bad year. I know I can do a lot better this year coming up.”

More from Boston.com:

The Bruins and the NHL trade deadline

: After acquiring Charlie Coyle via trade and Lee Stempniak as a free agent, the Bruins look to today’s 3 p.m. trade deadline “with the sense of calm and serenity,” writes Boston Globe columnist Kevin Paul Dupont.

Jackie Bradley Jr. is off to a good start in 2019.

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The Bruins mic’d up is worth a listen.

Here’s Nike’s latest viral commercial, narrated by Serena Williams.

https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/1099719010441138176

Lane Johnson is daring Le’Veon Bell not to sign with the Eagles.

On this day: In 1964, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) defeated Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

In the considerable buildup to the fight, Ali’s unprecedented bravado was matched only by the skepticism of prognosticators. The Globe‘s sports section on the day of the fight led with dooming predictions of a Liston knockout in the third round.

The top of the Globe sports section on Feb. 25, 1964, the day of Clay-Liston I.

“Well, if you want to lose your money,” Ali reasoned with customary swagger, “then bet on Sonny.”

Ali predicted he would win by knockout in the eighth round, but unbelievably managed to underestimate himself. Before the eighth round began, Liston quit the fight.

“I don’t have a mark on my face, and I upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned 22 years old,” Ali gleefully declared in a post-fight interview. “I must be the greatest.”

Ali and Liston would eventually fight a rematch in Lewiston, Maine in 1965. Originally set to be hosted in the Boston Garden, the venue was changed only weeks before after a protracted legal fight from Suffolk County District Attorney Garrett Byrne, who was suspicious of Liston’s ties to organized crime. Ali won the rematch in a first round knockout, producing one of the most iconic images in sports history.

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Muhammad Ali Sonny Liston Lewiston, Maine 1965

Daily highlight: At an Orlando Apollos game on Saturday night, a dog named Eurie set a new record by chasing down and catching an 83-yard frisbee toss.

https://twitter.com/JCCarnz/status/1099555482270945280