In 2011, Evans competed in the European Amateur Boxing Championships in Ankara. He defeated Belarusian Magomed Nurutdinov 15–9 on points to win a gold medal. His victory, along with that of flyweight Andrew Selby, was the first time a Welsh fighter had won gold at the event for 86 years and only the third time a British fighter had won since 1961. Later the same year, Evans reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Baku, being stopped by Lithuanian Egidijus Kavaliauskas.