By Rick Reeno

Back in September, former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer was pondering the possibility of returning to the sport.

Schaefer co-founded Golden Boy with best friend Oscar De La Hoya. He served as CEO of the company for 14 years.

After months of internal friction with De La Hoya, Schaefer made a decision to leave the company last June.

Following his departure, Golden Boy pursued a multi-million dollar legal case against Schaefer. The two sides reached a confidential settlement in January.

Schaefer's no-compete clause expired at the end of August.

He was hoping to reach a decision on his boxing future by the midway point of November.

No decision yet, but Schaefer openly admits that he's getting "the itch" to re-enter the fight game.

Because of his close friendship with manager/adviser Al Haymon, many would expect him to be a part of Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series - which has numerous television deals. Haymon currently has the largest stable in the world, with some estimating between 150 to 200 fighters under contract.

"I am looking at different options still. Truth be told, I am getting a bit restless, but for the time being I am still retired and observing what's going on in the sport. It certainly has been an interesting year for boxing in 2015," Schaefer told BoxingScene.com.

"It was certainly one of the most interesting years in boxing in a real long time - be it the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight breaking all financial records by a longshot, the current market where there are more promoters than ever, HBO probably having the best year ever and with the exception of Rigondeaux they have the 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. They certainly have cornered the market with talent. So it's interesting for me to see all of these things after leaving Golden Boy."

"What I've done in my time off now, I've sent two of my boys to college. The third one is a senior in high school and he is ready to go to college next year. I spend a lot of time with my family and reflecting on what I want to do. But you know, I hope 2016 will be another great year for boxing and a good year for me as well. And I am starting to get the itch to come back and I'm working hopefully towards that."

The PBC run started with a bang back in March on NBC. Since that show - and its first multi-year time-buy agreement for a series of TV dates with NBC/NBCSN - PBC has locked up similar deals with ESPN/ABC, FOX/FS1, Spike TV, Bounce TV, and CBS/CBS Sports.

Schaefer believes the PBC series has made every promoter in the industry - and every competing network - work a lot harder to sign top talent and put together the best fights possible.

"The PBC series started in March of this year. It's been less than a year. I'm sure they are getting their things together. Its still very early to judge the effects of PBC. But I do believe that in that very short time PBC has clearly lifted the sport and made many promoters more successful. I bet many promoters have had their best year in 2015 because they raised the bar and put together the best fights. Competition is good, it keeps people on their toes," Schaefer said.

"I think what you see with PBC creating that company environment with promoters working hard and doing their best. You saw what I mentioned before, that HBO had a tremendous year and put together a tremendous stable. Imagine that, one network promoting the 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. When have you seen that?"

"I think everyone sharpened their pencils and got on their toes. And the same is true with sponsors, like you see Tecate outbidding Corona for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight or what you see with the bidding for foreign TV rights between TV Azteca and Televisa in Mexico. So I don't think boxing has been as competitive as it's been today, at least since I've been involved in the last 15 or so years."

"With any new company there are some growing pains. But you can sum up the PBC with one sentence - they lifted the sport. I know some people will say that there are some mismatches here and there, but I've never seen a year with so many good fights and so much boxing content on TV. I think that's the way you create a new fan base and create exposure for the sport. There is no denying that PBC has created exposure for the sport and that's a great story for 2015."