▪️Zambia won bronze and silver in the 2022 Commonwealth Games but its now 24 years since the southern African country won gold in this event
July 2, 2026
The Zambia Boxing Federation (ZBF) has hired elite British boxing coach Karl Whalley to bolster its national team technical bench ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to August 2.
Working in partnership with the National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ), the federation aims to elevate the tactical acumen of local fighters and build on the nation’s relentless efforts to end their gold medal drought in the Club Games.
Elaborating on why Zambia has again drafted a British coach like they did for the 2022 Games, the Secretary-General, Humphrey Kasosolwa said: “Karl wás hired to beef up the technical bench and share his skills with our coaches. Even in the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham we had a British coach.”
Kasosolwa went on: “Our local coaches also learn and it really helps to have a foreign coach with us. Unfortunately only one Zambian coach will travel the other one has not been cleared.”
For the 2022 Games, Zambia brought on board Briton Barry Philpot but he still failed to win Zambia the coveted gold medal.
The southern Africans won one silver through welterweight Stephen Zimba and a bronze by flyweight Patrick Chinyemba who will be unavailable for the Glasgow Games as he’s pursuing professional boxing in the United States.
With the Commonwealth Games fast approaching, Zambia has restricted its boxing squad to four highly focused slots allocated by the National Olympic Committee. To maximize medal returns from this lean roster, launching an intensive local camp and embedded Whalley directly into the coaching staff alongside national team head coach Charles Kangwa and technical director Ariel Banda.
Whalley—an elite Level 3 England Boxing educator and highly respected coach from the Ardwick Lads Amateur Boxing Club—brings decades of structural and high-performance training expertise to the Zambian camp. The collaboration is a long-standing vision realized.
While the initial intent focused on constructing a long-term capacity development plan for local trainers, his arrival directly transitions those strategies into ringside, practical masterclasses for Glasgow-bound pugilists.
Zambia’s African Games flyweight champion and 2022 Birmingham bronze medalist Patrick Chinyemba was knocked out of the Glasgow plans after choosing to pursue a professional career in the United States. Under the guidance of the revamped technical bench, a hungry, four-boxer squad is currently training to end the 24-year gold medal brought.
Despite its boxing might, Zambia has so far won only two gold medals in the Commonwealth Games through the late Lottie Mwale in 1974 and and fllyweight Kennedy Kanyanta in 2002 in Manchester, defeating Botswana’s Luchedzani Luza in the finals.
Since 2002, Zambian boxers have tried in vain to add the third gold medal.
Albert Ngulube of Green Buffaloes has stepped in for Chinyemba. Other members in the team are bantamweight Catherine Mwape, welterweight Emmanuel Katema and lightweight Mwengo Mwale.
By blending Whalley’s rigorous British boxing style with the explosive raw talent of the local boxers, ZBF hopes to bring home the first gold medal in 24 years.
The collaborative technical bench is heavily focused on fine-tuning defensive discipline and high-volume punch output to ensure Team Zambia stands tall when the opening bell rings in Glasgow.
