Toney became almost a caricature of himself in the wake of the Jones humbling. He returned yet again at a higher weight, but lacking any kind of work rate or hustle, found himself losing by decision to Montell Griffin (twice) and embarrassingly to the journeyman Drake Thadzi (naturally, Toney weighed in four pounds too heavy for that fight, which cost him part of his purse). His fighting reputation was in tatters, and his career seemed all but dead, too - yet he managed to revive it in extraordinary circumstances in April 2003 when, now a Cruiserweight, he won a modern classic to upset another unbeaten title holder, Vassily Jirov, to claim his third IBF belt.
A stoppage victory over a faded Evander Holyfield later that year seemed to confirm that Toney, looking very thick around the waist and far too small when compared directly to his opponents in terms of dimensions but yet still winning, had indeed given his career the kiss of life - but with Toney, the moment he hit the self-destruct button again was never far away.
He appeared to have achieved the remarkable feat of becoming only the third former Middleweight champion in well over a century to have claimed a Heavyweight belt of some sort when he outscored John Ruiz for the WBA title in March 2005, but the result was subsequently changed to a 'No Contest' (and the belt promptly stripped from Toney's ever-expanding waist) when he tested positive for steroids not long after.
Making light of his wobbly, beefy frame, Toney said in his own brand of defence,
"Look at this body - do I look like I take steroids?"
It was the kind of quote that reminded everyone of why Toney was always unmissable entertainment, but sadly it was also a reminder of how much he'd been the architect of his own downfall.
He was typically bullish after losing another controversial decision against Sam Peter a year later. "Look what I did to his face. I aint cut or nothing like that. How the hell you gonna win the fight when you looking like a monster like that? He look like Larry