30/05/2026
EVARISTO MULENGA: THE FIGHT AFTER THE BELL
A young champion from ZNS, and the silence that follows when the crowd leaves.
Coaches were calling him the next big thing,
He was supposed to be in the gym right now, teaching recruits how to slip a jab.
He was supposed to have a career, a salary, a way to feed his young family.
Instead, He lost his job.
The official line: “Absenteeism. Breach of military discipline.”
The street talk: Rumors of addiction. Whispers about missed parades, failed tests, broken promises.
No OVEP class taught him how to handle fame .
No anti-doping education explained the difference between supplements and suspensions.
No athlete welfare officer checked why a kid who lived for boxing suddenly stopped showing up.
No mental health or substance abuse support system caught him before the fall.
The boy who was once saluted now found in streets of Lusaka,no ZNS uniform ,no boxing gloves. Just a face the boxing family recognizes, and a silence they don’t know how to break.
This is how we lose champions:
Not to a left hook. But to silence.
Not because they’re weak. But because the system is unequipped for when strong men hurt.
We demand discipline from 20-year-olds, but give them no tools for life after the final bell. No financial literacy. No second-career training. No confidential help when rumors start and careers end.
Evaristo didn’t need a court martial. He needed a coach off the canvas.
He didn’t need whispers. He needed OVEP. He needed anti-doping education that protects, not just punishes.
He’s still young. This isn’t the 12th round yet.
He should be in a rehab gym, not on the street.
He should be in a classroom, learning to coach, not being laughed at by people who once chanted his name.
He should be reminded that Zambia doesn’t throw away its sons. We rebuild them.
If the rumors are true, he needs treatment, not judgment.
If they’re false, he needs his name cleared and his job reviewed.
Either way, he needs the system that made him a soldier to act like one — leave no man behind.
A nation is judged by how it treats its champions when the cheering stops.
Evaristo Mulenga is still fighting. The question is: will we fight
We call for the stronger athlete education, welfare, and transition programs — OVEP, anti-doping, mental health — so that no athlete is left alone when life throws its hardest punches. If you or someone you know is struggling, the National Olympic Committee of Zambia have athlete support channels available.
30/05/2026
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