Understands the procedure, as many a boxer does (5,3,5)

I believe the answer is:

knows the ropes

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'many a boxer does' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'understands the procedure' is the wordplay.
'understands' becomes 'knows' (understand can mean to know or recognise).
'procedure' becomes 'ropes' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'knows'+'the'+'ropes'='KNOWS THE ROPES'

'as' acts as a link.

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I've seen this clue in The Irish News.

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