After some delays and obstacles, Rocky’s Pizza is ready for its return to the ring.

The famous ‘80′s era pizzeria with a boxing theme that once touted itself with the slogan, “Round after round best pizza in town,” is ready to re-open.

Last year, the owners of the boxing-themed Rocky’s Pizza signed a lease to reopen the restaurant in the former Little Italy space at 1924 11th Ave. South.

Now the long-awaited return of Rocky’s Pizza is set for Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2.

Rocky’s founder Dennis Dunlap opened Rocky’s Pizzeria on Green Springs highway in 1986. He named Rocky’s in honor of boxer Rocky Marciano, with pizzas named for famous boxers.

The restaurant moved to the Lakeview district in the early 1990s. In 2001, Dunlap moved the restaurant to Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard and 7th Avenue South. Rocky’s Pizza closed in 2016. Dunlap died in 2017 after a battle with cancer.

During its last incarnation, Dunlap’s son, Joshua, was in charge of the kitchen at Rocky’s while his father ran the front of the restaurant.

Joshua Dunlap has now tapped René Mercado Angeles, who spent more than 16 years at Gianmarco’s Restaurant, as co-owner of the pizzeria who will run the kitchen. Dunlap’s sister, Cynthia, also joined as a co-owner.

“The eagerly awaited reopening of Rocky’s has finally arrived,” said Joshua Dunlap. “During this process my sister, Cynthia came aboard to help honor our father’s business vision. We are excited to bring Rocky’s Pizza back to Birmingham and to see it succeed. We appreciate our loyal fan base and look forward to reuniting with the Birmingham community.”

Cynthia joined the team after the original announcement.

“Adding Cynthia has been a blessing,” Mercado Angeles said. “Having any part of the Dunlap family on the team only makes us stronger. Josh and myself both wanted her on the team so we all worked together behind the scenes to figure out how to make it happen.”

Cynthia said it’s a return to a quintessentially family business.

“When my Dad and Josh were running Rocky’s at the beginning, I filled in for shift gaps,” Cynthia said.

“I would come in before opening and did food prep work before my college classes at UAB started. I ran the phones on evenings and weekends. I filled in as delivery driver when needed and set up catering jobs. I was a runner for short errands needed to keep daily operations flowing.

“During the Rocky’s relocation to the Richard Arrington location I helped oversee the renovation and then continued to fill in as needed for all shifts and in any capacity needed. I stayed involved with marketing projects and new product introductions to the business. I was honored to be involved in the family business and watch it flourish.”

Mercado Angeles asked for patience from patrons.

“We want our first week to be a soft opening,” he said. “All customers are welcome, but hopefully the public coming in during that first week will be open-minded to the fact we are getting our feet wet. By Monday, Sept. 9, it’s full steam ahead.”

The reopening was initially set for last summer, then this spring. There were numerous delays along the way.

“In hindsight, we regret announcing when we did,” Mercado Angeles said. “At the time we originally announced that we were coming back we genuinely believed that we would be open within a few months. Obviously, we were wrong.”

Rocky’s management had been taking a pay as they go philosophy, trying to avoid debt, he said.

“We didn’t want to go into debt with a bank,” Mercado Angeles said. “That was something important to us. So, when something would come up that we needed to fix or purchase that we hadn’t originally budgeted for it was on us to figure it out at the time. That slowed us down. We just stayed focused and kept working towards our goal of opening.”

The pizza-buying public got impatient with the delays.

“It was hard,” Mercado Angeles said. “We would see the posts online, with people asking when we would open, and the conspiracies of why it hadn’t happened yet. We just didn’t want to respond until we were 100 percent confident that the date would be correct this time. Sept. 2 is the date. We are ready.”

Now that it’s happening, Cynthia said it’s all about bringing back a feeling of family.

“Some of my fondest memories are watching my late father and brother working together at such a successful small business in Birmingham,” Cynthia said. “Once I graduated from UAB I stepped back from the daily operations but have always had fond memories of my time working with my father and brother. I’m excited about the future of Rocky’s.”

Hours of operation

Rocky’s will be open 7 days a week, Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Monday-Wednesday from 11 a.m. to midnight; and Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

“We like the idea of the late-night college crowd having a nice place to come, relax and enjoy full sit down Italian dinner after most other restaurants have closed,” Mercado Angeles said.