Richard Schaefer goes back to the future with Abner Mares-Jesus Cuellar card

Standing for a photo-op at the highest man-made point in the western U.S. — the helipad atop the U.S. Bank tower in downtown Los Angeles — boxing promoter Richard Schaefer could view the city, the surrounding mountains and the sea.

But it was the men next to him representing his past and future at whom Schaefer couldn’t stop gazing.

When he was the head of Golden Boy Promotions, Schaefer, 55, oversaw the rise of the company’s first home-grown fighter, Hawaiian Gardens’ Abner Mares, to become a world champion, and in his final major bout at the helm, Schaefer saw featherweight Jesus Cuellar of Argentina flatten former champion Juan Manuel Lopez by a second-round knockout in 2014.

“I told Cuellar after that fight how impressed I was, and I told him, ‘You are going to be a world champion,’ ” Schaefer said.

Now, it comes full circle.

When he stages his first bout as head of his newly formed Ringstar Sports promotional company Dec. 10 at USC’s Galen Center, Schaefer will present a featherweight-title main event pitting World Boxing Assn. champion Cuellar (28-1, 21 knockouts) versus former three-division champion Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs).

The Showtime-televised card also includes a super-welterweight title fight between unbeaten International Boxing Federation champion Jermall Charlo of Houston and top-ranked contender Julian Williams of Philadelphia.

Tickets, priced from $35 to $200 ($25 for USC students), went on sale Friday at www.galencenter.org.

At a Thursday news conference, Schaefer admitted “the last two-and-a-half years have not always been easy” because his split with Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya included a legal settlement that required Schaefer to be out of the promotional business for an extended period.

But he promises competitive fights in becoming the face and voice of his reclusive friend Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions stable of some 200 fighters.

After Dec. 10, Schaefer also will preside over the Jan. 28 featherweight-title rematch in Las Vegas between Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton and Los Angeles’ Leo Santa Cruz.

The intrigue for Dec. 10 is how Mares will fare about six months after the New York State Athletic Commission, left overly sensitive to litigation after its handling of heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov, ruled Mares unfit to fight Cuellar at Barclays Center in June because of prior eye surgery.

In addition to a Lasik procedure, Mares had retinal surgery in 2008.

The California State Athletic Commission already has cleared Mares for action.

“My eye’s good. I’m excited because I’ve been cleared. I’ve always gone to see my eye doctor before and after fights, back to 2008,” Mares said Thursday. “And, remember, that’s when this happened: 2008. Ever since, I’ve been fighting and active and nothing has happened to my eye. They’ve got lawsuits left and right in New York, and they didn’t want to take the risk.”

Mares declined to reveal what the quality of his vision is, however, and a publicist interrupted, escorting him away.

Cuellar, 29, isn’t one to show mercy after patiently waiting for a well-known opponent who could boost his profile and leave him better positioned for bigger bouts against the likes of the Frampton-Santa Cruz winner or Southland World Boxing Organization champion Oscar Valdez.

“Mares is a good fighter who comes forward, so this should be a good, exciting fight,” Cuellar said. “People might not know everything about me, but now they will see I’m a warrior, and I intend to do big things.

“I’m really happy that we’re finally here.”

As is Schaefer.