Born in Lingdale, North Yorkshire, Boyes played for his local team Lingdale before being spotted by a York City scout. He went on trial with York and subsequently joined the club's Centre of Excellence in 2005. He signed a two-year scholarship with York in June 2007 and was part of the team that progressed to the third round of the 2007–08 FA Youth Cup. While still a first-year scholar, he made his first-team debut as an 84th minute substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Torquay United in the semi-final second leg of the FA Trophy on 16 March 2008. After scoring a hat-trick for the reserve team against Barnsley, he made his league debut as a substitute during York's 4–0 Conference Premier victory at Stafford Rangers on 8 April 2008. Following this appearance, manager Colin Walker said "I thought he looked the part and that can only be good for York City football club". He went on to make two further appearances during the 2007–08 season, which he finished with four appearances. He was handed a one-week trial with Premier League champions Manchester United in May 2008 and after this was extended for a second week he played in a youth tournament that included Hibernian, Middlesbrough, Tottenham Hotspur and a Russian team. During the tournament, he scored for United after intercepting the ball from an attempted header back to goal from an opposition player against Premier Soccer League team Supersport United in a 1–1 draw. Following this, he had "etched out a reputation as one of the game's brightest potential stars".
Boyes signed for Championship club Scunthorpe United on a three-year contract for an undisclosed six-figure fee on 10 July 2009. He returned to York on an initial one-month loan on 16 October 2009, making his second debut as an 89th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw with Oxford United. He returned to Scunthorpe following the completion of the loan on 17 November 2009, having made four appearances for York. He joined Kidderminster Harriers on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season on 1 March 2010, making his debut as a 63rd-minute substitute in a 2–2 draw with Ebbsfleet United. He made four appearances for Kidderminster before being recalled by Scunthorpe on 29 March 2010. Boyes made his debut for Scunthorpe as an 89th-minute substitute in a 4–2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup second round on 24 August 2010. He was released by the club after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent on 20 January 2011.
Boyes was named in the England C team, who represent England at non-League level, in February 2009, for a friendly against the Malta under-21 team, after initially being placed on standby for the match. He entered the match as a second-half substitute as England won 4–0. It was over two years before Boyes made his next England C appearance, which came after starting a 3–1 defeat away to Gibraltar in a friendly on 15 November 2011. This was followed by a substitute appearance against Italy in a 1–1 draw on 28 February 2012 in the 2011–13 International Challenge Trophy. He earned three caps for England C from 2009 to 2012.
On 18 May 2013, Boyes signed for Conference Premier club Gateshead on a one-year contract. He made his debut on 10 August against Kidderminster Harriers. He scored his first goal for Gateshead on 12 November 2013 against Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground.
On 23 January 2014, Boyes joined Conference North club Guiseley on loan for the remainder of the season. He scored 15 goals in 24 appearances, including scoring in 11 consecutive matches, before signing permanently on 26 May 2014.
On 27 May 2017, Boyes signed for National League North club Bradford Park Avenue on a two-year contract.
