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Punches and pizza raises money for Little Italy
The legacy of Bobby D
In 1950, Vincent and Madeline DePhilippis started Filippi’s Pizza Grotto in Little Italy. Now, 75 years later, the family-owned and -operated business has 14 locations running from San Diego up to Napa Valley.
Two generations into the institution's run, somewhere around 1980, Vincent and Madeline's grandson Bobby DePhilippis, aka Bobby D., combined the business skills he had acquired from working in the family restaurant with his love for boxing and created his own grassroots promotional outfit. Bobby D. Presents was eventually responsible for nurturing many talented fighters who went on to become world championship fighters. “Business made the money, but the love was for boxing,” says daughter Michelle DePhilippis.
When Bobby D. passed away in 2022, Michelle continued his legacy by creating the Bobby D. Foundation, which raises money for cultural programs. Additionally, the foundation raised over $40,000 for Washington Elementary School for the school and its students in its inaugural year, then another $25,000 the next. (Washington Elementary serves a relatively high percentage of students whose families are unhoused.) “My dad,” says DePhillipis, “throughout all the years in business and everything was always really big into giving back to the community and helping out basically anybody he could.”
How did they raise it? Prior to Bobby D’s passing, he talked about staging a boxing match in Little Italy. When DePhilippis was asked if she wanted to be involved, she said absolutely. “It happened so fast the first year,” she says. “We only had two months to plan it. It was awesome. A lot of his good friends and boxing colleagues came out to join the fight and put this together. I think that says a lot about his character and his legacy. I said, ‘What can we donate this money to? What’s the need in the community?’ Just by talking to people in Little Italy, everybody was saying that the Washington Elementary School was severely underfunded and that they had a high number of homeless students. Most of their students were under the poverty line, so it seemed like a no-brainer.”
DePhillipis continues: “He donated and gave a lot of money to make things happen. A lot of It I never knew until this happened, and I started hearing all the stories. He also did a lot of work with the Community Youth Athletic Center in National City.” The CYAC is a non-profit organization with a major focus on boxing that offers youth athletic, academic, and community service programs for at-risk youth aged 8-18.
On September 12, Filippi’s Pizza Grotto threw their third annual sanctioned amateur boxing event in honor of the late Hall of Fame promoter. Each year, organizers plan the fights to be around the same time as Bobby D’s passing on September 11. This year’s throwdown was even a little more special, as the ten-fight card coincided with the family-owned restaurants’ 75th anniversary.
Held in Little Italy in the Piazza Della Famiglia, the night turned out to be another success. “I thought we had a great turnout,” says DePhillipis. “We were completely sold out of VIP, and we sold more than three quarters of our general admission.” Then there were about 200 more people standing on the outside watching. Since the first year, they have added about 250 more seats.
Bobby D. always wanted to give people an opportunity to fight. Even though the boxers he helped were amateur, some of them went on to become world champions. This gave Bobby D. standing in the sport. One of his greatest contributions came in 2014 when he staged San Diego’s first women’s world title fight at Mission Valley’s Crown Plaza. In that bout, 20-year-old Kenia Enriquez captured the WBO flyweight championship by defeating Ana Arrazola.
In a sport dominated by money and power, Bobby D’s story is a reminder of what boxing can be: fighters given a chance, fans treated with respect, and a community bound together. Bobby DePhilippis may never have been a household name in Vegas, but San Diego is glad to have had him.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Punches and pizza raises money for Little Italy
The legacy of Bobby D
Punches and pizza raises money for Little Italy
The legacy of Bobby D
In 1950, Vincent and Madeline DePhilippis started Filippi’s Pizza Grotto in Little Italy. Now, 75 years later, the family-owned and -operated business has 14 locations running from San Diego up to Napa Valley.
Two generations into the institution's run, somewhere around 1980, Vincent and Madeline's grandson Bobby DePhilippis, aka Bobby D., combined the business skills he had acquired from working in the family restaurant with his love for boxing and created his own grassroots promotional outfit. Bobby D. Presents was eventually responsible for nurturing many talented fighters who went on to become world championship fighters. “Business made the money, but the love was for boxing,” says daughter Michelle DePhilippis.
When Bobby D. passed away in 2022, Michelle continued his legacy by creating the Bobby D. Foundation, which raises money for cultural programs. Additionally, the foundation raised over $40,000 for Washington Elementary School for the school and its students in its inaugural year, then another $25,000 the next. (Washington Elementary serves a relatively high percentage of students whose families are unhoused.) “My dad,” says DePhillipis, “throughout all the years in business and everything was always really big into giving back to the community and helping out basically anybody he could.”
How did they raise it? Prior to Bobby D’s passing, he talked about staging a boxing match in Little Italy. When DePhilippis was asked if she wanted to be involved, she said absolutely. “It happened so fast the first year,” she says. “We only had two months to plan it. It was awesome. A lot of his good friends and boxing colleagues came out to join the fight and put this together. I think that says a lot about his character and his legacy. I said, ‘What can we donate this money to? What’s the need in the community?’ Just by talking to people in Little Italy, everybody was saying that the Washington Elementary School was severely underfunded and that they had a high number of homeless students. Most of their students were under the poverty line, so it seemed like a no-brainer.”
DePhillipis continues: “He donated and gave a lot of money to make things happen. A lot of It I never knew until this happened, and I started hearing all the stories. He also did a lot of work with the Community Youth Athletic Center in National City.” The CYAC is a non-profit organization with a major focus on boxing that offers youth athletic, academic, and community service programs for at-risk youth aged 8-18.
On September 12, Filippi’s Pizza Grotto threw their third annual sanctioned amateur boxing event in honor of the late Hall of Fame promoter. Each year, organizers plan the fights to be around the same time as Bobby D’s passing on September 11. This year’s throwdown was even a little more special, as the ten-fight card coincided with the family-owned restaurants’ 75th anniversary.
Held in Little Italy in the Piazza Della Famiglia, the night turned out to be another success. “I thought we had a great turnout,” says DePhillipis. “We were completely sold out of VIP, and we sold more than three quarters of our general admission.” Then there were about 200 more people standing on the outside watching. Since the first year, they have added about 250 more seats.
Bobby D. always wanted to give people an opportunity to fight. Even though the boxers he helped were amateur, some of them went on to become world champions. This gave Bobby D. standing in the sport. One of his greatest contributions came in 2014 when he staged San Diego’s first women’s world title fight at Mission Valley’s Crown Plaza. In that bout, 20-year-old Kenia Enriquez captured the WBO flyweight championship by defeating Ana Arrazola.
In a sport dominated by money and power, Bobby D’s story is a reminder of what boxing can be: fighters given a chance, fans treated with respect, and a community bound together. Bobby DePhilippis may never have been a household name in Vegas, but San Diego is glad to have had him.
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