Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Aus.) to fight with, to punch.

1914		Sport (Adelaide) 10 July 4/1: Jack will be boxing on with M. R. if he keeps getting all his trade .
1918		Aussie (France) VII Sept. 11/2: And the villages are dead or deserted, and there isn’t any chance to make fun. We’d enjoy ourselves more up the line boxing on with the savage Hun.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 127/1: since ca. 1920.

2. (Aus.) to keep going, to persevere, in prison/und. use, to continue to fight a court case (see cite 1972).

1919		W.H. Downing Digger Dialects 13: box on (vb.) — (1) Continue.
1959		G. Slatter Gun in My Hand 239: I’ll box on somewhere. Get out of this place.
1968		S. Gore Holy Smoke 26: He boxes on with a yarn about this old joker who had two sons.
1972		Parramatta Jail Gloss. B. Moore (ed.) (2023) 64: box on with it contest court case.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 20/1: box on/box on regardless keep going, endure; eg ‘I know we’ve no chance of winning, but just box on regardless.’.
1993		Smith & Noble Neddy (1998) 200: We had quite a lot to drink. Belinda wanted to go to the disco at the City of Sydney RSL. We decided to go with her and box on drinking.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].
2007		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 11 5: I was the one voted most l.ikely to die. But I am still here [...] boxing on, still pleasing not guilty.