With failure of clubs, was boxing assessed? (5)
I believe the answer is:
rated
'assessed?' is the definition.
(rating is a kind of assessing)
'with failure of clubs was boxing' is the wordplay.
'with failure of' is a deletion indicator.
'clubs' becomes 'c' (abbreviation in card games).
'was boxing' becomes 'crated' (was putting things into crates or boxes).
'crated' with 'c' taken out is 'RATED'.
(Other definitions for rated that I've seen before include "Tread (anag.)" , "highly regarded" , "Castigated" , "Assessed in trade" , "Censured" .)