Crossword Genius

Greatest boxer endless landed like a butterfly? (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ali

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

'greatest boxer' is the definition.
'Ali' can be an answer for 'boxer' (Muhammad Ali). I'm not certain of the 'greatest' bit.

'endless landed like a butterfly?' is the wordplay.
'endless' means to look at the middle letters.
'landed' becomes 'estated' (I've seen this in another clue).
'like a butterfly?' becomes 'li' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The middle of 'estated' is 'a'.
'a'+'li'='ALI'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ali that I've seen before include "Son-in-law to Muhammad" , "Fourth caliph of Islam" , "Old fighter" , "Ringmaster" , "Cassius Clay became Muhammad ..." .)

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