He pioneered way to condition boxers for example (6)
I believe the answer is:
pavlov
'he' is the definition.
'pioneered way to condition boxers for example' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'way' could be 'av' (short for avenue) and 'av' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pavlov that I've seen before include "Russian who worked with canine responses to food" , "Famous Russian scientist who studied conditioned reflexes in dogs" , "As reflex investigator" , "Russian who famously observed conditioned responses in dogs" , "Russian physiologist who first observed "conditioned responses"" .)