[1] Three months later in Thomas next fight he faced Yorkshire's Martin Hardcastle again on his opponent's home turf in Bradford.

Thomas, trying to score an upset, took bouts on short notice against Ricky Burns and Steve Murray, troubling both before losing each fight conclusively.

[1] This led Thomas to get a chance to fight for the biggest pay day of his career, against Olympic silver medalist Amir Khan.

[2] An alternate date in the beginning of 2006 was suggested for the pair to fight but it was imperative that Thomas defeat Baz Carey during their scheduled contest in Blackpool.

[1][2] Following a win over Nuneaton Veteran Kristean Laight, Thomas got the opportunity to fight for the vacant Irish light welterweight title in June 2006.

Fagan would go on to lose a split decision to unbeaten Former IBF World Lightweight Champion Paul Spadafora and had already gone the distance with Julio Cesar Chavez Junior before being stopped by British prospect Amir Khan in 2008.

He scored draws against Rick Boultor and Kris Agei-Dua, and wins over Mousad Wali and Andrew Patterson.

A loss in between the Wali and Patterson fights to Nathan Weise put paid to any real progress in his comeback but Thomas was very pleased to have returned after so long away.