Animated US boxer on day of victory (5)

I believe the answer is:

alive

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'animated us' is the definition.
'alive' can be an answer for 'animated' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'us' bit.

'boxer on day of victory' is the wordplay.
'boxer' becomes 'ali' (Muhammad Ali).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'day of victory' becomes 've'.
'ali'+'ve'='ALIVE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for alive that I've seen before include "Still kicking, say" , "Active - living" , "Extant" , "Animate, breathing" , "Teeming (with)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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