Rumble Boxing Opens In Tribeca Amid Legal Woes

TRIBECA, NY — Rumble Boxing is expanding to Tribeca — just as another lawsuit filed against the company alleges the founder boxed out a former business partner and misled customers about the apparent "celebrity fans" at the start-up boxing gym.

Rumble Boxing's co-founder Andrew Stenzler opened another gym at 140 West St. in Tribeca Thursday, two weeks after his former business partner Brian Ripka sued him.

Ripka, who founded Ripped Fitness, is claiming the Rumble founder is running a "smear campaign" against him, and has pushed exaggerations onto the public through his wife's public relations firm, London Misher PR, the lawsuit says.

With the PR firm, the companies and Stenzler "have conspired to distribute and/or plant over 300 articles containing false or misleading information intended to deceive the consuming public," the lawsuit alleges.

Now, Ripka's suit claims the companies have used the "very same tactics" to defame him, according to the lawsuit.

Back in 2016, Ripka gave Stenzler free instructor classes and shared marketing and business strategies under an agreement that Ripka would take on a 10 percent equity interest in the new boxing gym, the lawsuit says.

The agreement never happened — and the lawsuit claims Stenzler began a "conscious retelling" of how the gym was founded, pushing Ripka out of the picture.

The lawsuit alleges London Misher PR and Rumble have used celebrity names to "create the impression that Rumble is a 'celebrity hotspot'" and has misled the public about how the gym was founded.

The PR firm reached out to this reporter Wednesday boasting the gym's "celebrity fans" — including Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, Jason Derulo, David Beckham, and Kevin Hart.

A spokesperson for Rumble and London Misher said the companies "deny all claims and the motions to dismiss that have been filed speak for themselves."

Lawyers for Stenzler and the companies submitted news articles and social media posts to prove the celebrity connections.

Stenzler himself sued Ripka in May, alleging he had used confidential information about the company inappropriately, which Ripka's latest lawsuit, filed Oct. 31, says has cost him financially.

A lawyer for Ripka did not respond for comment.

Stenzler, who has expanded Rumble to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., is no stranger to legal battles. He's faced other lawsuits dating back to 2003 regarding breach of contract and deceptive trade practices, according to a March report in Bloomberg.

Among those lawsuits include two men who sued Stenzler for some $28 million, claiming he stole boxing class features like using a water-filled punching bag from them, Bloomberg reported.

Despite the legal woes, Stenzler's Rumble had more than 300 people signed up for the Tribeca location's opening day, the companies' spokesperson said.