A little over two years after her last professional fight, Erin Toughill still looks like she can go rounds with anyone. But at 47, she is content with her combat sports career, happy that she left on her own terms.
“I wanted to try BYB [Extreme Fighting Series], had that split decision loss and I was like, ‘F**k, I thought I did enough to win that,’” said Toughill of her foray into bare-knuckle boxing in 2021, where she lost her debut to Jozette Cotton. “And then I said, ‘I can’t go out like that.’ So I came back and had that shutout, and sure, I could have fought a few more times, but I also felt like that was one of the best performances of my combat sports career. And I wanted to go out on a high note.”
Her five-round unanimous decision win over Sonya Dreiling at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa was far from the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., where she had the biggest fight of her traditional boxing career against Laila Ali in 2005, but it was a good end before her transition into a new beginning as the vice president of fighter relations and matchmaking for Roy Englebrecht Promotions.
It’s the classic case of being thrown feet-first into the fire, but Toughill, a high-level pro in boxing, mixed martial arts and bare knuckle, has lived much of her life in the fire. At least this time, there will be no punches, kicks or chokes to contend with, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be pressure living up to the standards Englebrecht demands as one of the top promoters in California.
“It took me a couple months to really dial in,” Toughill said. “There was a lot of stuff that I just learned on the fly, but I feel like I’m doing something right. I’m very coachable. I love learning. I love listening. That’s why I excelled as a fighter. I can take critiques. And I’m a hard worker. I’m not lazy. Roy is not lazy. And I think that’s why he’s enjoyed interacting with me, too, because I’m not a highly emotional person. I’m very passionate, but I try to use logic and reason and common sense.”
And at this point in his own career, Englebrecht didn’t want to have to babysit the Huntington Beach product. But suffice to say he was watching and waiting to see if there were any questions.
“I’ve known him for many, many years,” said Toughill of her new boss. “I even fought for him one time in 2000, and he has been a great mentor to me. He’s like me as a coach – firm, but fair. He’ll listen to you. And he’s a very rational person; you can’t be in the sport doing matchmaking or promoting as long as he has if you’re not.”
More than being rational, it helps to be a good person. Englebrecht fits that bill. And so does Toughill. That’s something to be proud of, because in the fight game, there’s usually someone who doesn’t like you for some reason or another. Toughill has earned the respect she gets, something that isn’t easy in this business, especially if you’re a woman, and it’s largely due to her blunt honesty.
“It’s life,” she said. “If you’re a writer, a journalist, a manager or whatever, if you’re a female and you’ve been in this industry for as long as I have, you’re a tough SOB, and you’ve got to have a certain type of disposition to be in this industry, because it’s cutthroat.”
Some don’t want to hear that, but Toughill wants fighters to have a fair opportunity each time they lace up the gloves. And having been there before as a fellow fighter, her words carry extra weight.
“I do get a different connection with the fighters because I’m a fighter, and they understand that I’ve been a B side,” she said. “I fought, and I care about the welfare of the combatants when I’m making these fights. I tell them that the A side and B side are always going to be like that in boxing. What I do tell some of them that are worried about being the B side, ‘If you already admit to defeat, you’re going to lose.’ We have people that come in and they can win. This is the business. Now, if you’re not prepared to be in this and deal with it, that’s on you. But people are like, ‘Why can’t I get the A side?’ You can’t sell tickets.”
Blunt. But honest. And with an open-door policy that she offers to everyone she works with.
“I try to let them know if you have any questions, if you have any concerns, if you have any reservations, express those to me and let’s see if we can come up with something. I’m about solutions. I’m not a person that’s about complaining and saying we can’t fix this. Let’s see if we can fix it.”
That willingness to call it the way she sees it while still offering solutions extends to Toughill’s insights on the fight game, including the state of women’s boxing. And while some see the modern game experiencing a renaissance, Toughill sees issues that need to be addressed for the sport to grow. And again, as a boxer who faced the likes of Ali, Hannah Rankin, Maricela Cornejo and Raquel Miller, when she talks, you should listen.
“I do get a different connection with the fighters because I’m a fighter, and they understand that I’ve been a B side.”
“I think there’s only a handful of women who are really making waves in it,” Toughill said. “There’s (Seniesa) Estrada and Katie Taylor and (Amanda) Serrano, and, of course, they’re beautiful and they can fight and they’re all these things. But there really is a disconnect now between women’s boxing and the fan base. And women’s boxing is not advertised, and they don’t really market it. And that’s a big thing, because what entices people to get into the sport for any sport is the athletes that are in it. These girls are doing their own promotion and pushing themselves. And I think you either have charisma or you don’t. There’s only a handful of women right now that I see fighting that are like, I’m drawn to them. Charisma is just something that’s you. It’s not words, it’s just a feeling.”
Toughill had that charisma, and she could fight. And while the boxing career was impressive, she made an even bigger impact in mixed martial arts as one of the pioneers of the sport in the pre-Ronda Rousey era. And though it wasn’t all roses in either sport, she always found her peace in the sweet science.
“There was a several-year period where I was in a really bad place,” Toughill said. “I had retired, and I was dealing with a lot of choices I made. I kind of fell off the grid for a couple years. But always, in this whole time, boxing saved my life. That’s what got me through all my tough times.”
And after returning from a two-year ring absence for her two bare-knuckle bouts, beating Dreiling signaled that this time was the right time to go … and have that rarity of rarities in combat sports: a happy ending.
“It’s a brutal sport,” she said. “Boxing is brutal. And I just didn’t feel like I had anything more to prove. If I was 10 years younger, I would still be in the mix. With boxing, the divisions are a lot different now than they were when me and Laila (Ali) and everyone was fighting. There was a lot of competition. It’s not the same now. So I fought a lot of really great people. But I felt like I’ve accomplished a lot for myself, and I’m blessed that I can still be involved helping other people in boxing now with the job that I have with Roy. So it’s really cool. It’s kind of come full circle and I’m really enjoying this. I’m complete with it now.”