Results: After the Rouzbabhani defeat and his subsequent controversial[5] loss to Bahram Muzzafer in the Olympic qualifiers in Trabzon, Ward's bad luck continued at the 2013 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Minsk.

Despite an accidental clash of heads opening up a small cut above Ward's left eye, he continued a stylish performance to seal victory over Dutch fighter Peter Müllenberg in the final.

One of the pre-tournament favourites, Ward was controversially eliminated in his opening bout following two separate points deductions which handed Ecuadorian Carlos Andres Mina a split-decision win.

Ward strolled to the final with a trio of facile, one-sided wins before overcoming Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov in a cagey gold medal match.

Results: Ward returned to the pro-styled format and the British Lionhearts in 2018 where he topped the individual light heavyweight rankings for the regular season following three dominant wins.

Results: On 7 June 2019 it was announced that Ward had passed on attempting to qualify for a second Olympics and would sign a pro contract with the New York-based Times Square Boxing Co. with Lou DiBella and Ken Casey offering advisory roles.

[16] Joe started the road to recovery by defeating Luis Velasco and Fernando Alverez both by first-round TKO to set up his return bout with Marco Delgado which Ward won comfortably by a Unanimous Decision.