Great boxer associated with graduates — or one associated with thieves (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
ali baba
'graduates or one associated with thieves' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'great boxer associated with' is the wordplay.
'great' becomes 'baba' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'boxer' becomes 'Ali' (Muhammad Ali).
'associated with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'baba' put after 'ali' is 'ALI BABA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ali baba that I've seen before include "Hero of Arabic story" , "Chopper" , "Pantomime hero opposed by forty thieves" , "Arabian Nights hero who discovered 'Open sesame'" , "He discovered the magic words "Open Sesame"" .)