Crossword Genius

Anticipate former boxer grabbing head of champ (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

expect

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'anticipate' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'former boxer grabbing head of champ' is the wordplay.
'former' becomes 'ex'.
'boxer' becomes 'pet' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'grabbing' indicates putting letters inside.
'head of' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'champ' is 'c'.
'pet' placed around 'c' is 'pect'.
'ex'+'pect'='EXPECT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for expect that I've seen before include "Anticipate - rely upon - suppose" , "Think of as likely to happen" , "Hope - await" , "Wait for" , "Be waiting for" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and the Irish Times.
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