In 2010, Martin Ward became the first English featherweight champion with a points victory in the final over Ryan Farrag (18-4). Later that year he won the 1st Championship of Great Britain, where he defeated lightweight Josh Taylor from Scotland in the finals (10-9). He qualified in England for participation in the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Ankara in lightweight. He started there in lightweight, defeating Tomas Vano from Slovakia (20-6) and Ildar Vaganov from Russia (16-10) to points. His victory over Vaganov, in particular, caused a stir, but in the quarterfinals, he was defeated by Vladimir Saruhanyan from Armenia to points (15-22) and thus finished fifth.