PC: What’s the latest with Rock Allen?

RA: Right now I’m just staying in shape. I have to talk to my pops and Golden Boy to see what’s next on the horizon.

PC: Congratulations on your knockout victory in Arizona [TKO4 over Omar Ballard (5-8), on October 6, 2006]. How would you grade yourself?

RA: Thank you sir. I think I did terrible. I got the W and that’s all that counted. I thought my performance before that one was a lot better. If you would’ve called me right after that fight, I would’ve said the same thing, but when I looked at the tape when I fought on HBO(Mosley/Vargas 2 undercard), I didn’t look as bad as I thought I did. I thought I looked pretty good. This last fight I just thought it was some little things that I need to work on. Some people may have thought I looked good, but I think I looked crappy.

PC: You always seem pretty hard on yourself. What are you looking for in a fight that you don’t feel like you’re doing?

RA: Well, each fight is different. It’s not the same thing all the time. My last fight I thought I should’ve used my jab more. This fight I thought I was a little too patient. It’s not like each fight is the same things, you know? Some fights I just look better than others.

PC: You’ve fought 6 times in 2006. You think it’s safe to say we won’t see you again until 2007?

RA: It’s still up in the air. I have to talk to my pops and see what he says and we’ll go from there.

PC: You’ve been very active this year, but you always seem to stay around your fighting weight. How important is that for young fighters?

RA: That’s very important because you don’t want to have camps about weight. Camps are supposed to be about strategies and styles. They have a lot more things you need to work on at camp besides weight. It’s not good going into a fight worrying about how much weight you have to cut.

PC: The 140 pound division is clearing out a bit with the departure of Cotto and Corrales and Castillo choosing to bypass the division for welterweight. Do you see it as an opportunity for some new blood to come into that division?

RA: Oh yeah. 140 still has some killers in the division though. It’s still a money division. You could tell who was really cutting the weight because you got guys going from lightweight to welterweight. It’s still a division I’m going to have to slowly climb my way up to the top.

PC: What do you think about fighters not making weight because we’re starting to see more titles lost on the scales now?

RA: I think it may be a mixture of guys waiting too late to bring their weight down and they hit a wall. Your body just won’t lose it. The body has a mind of its own sometimes. It’s like a Charlie horse. You can’t stop a Charlie horse. You can move your body a certain way, but once it comes, it’s there. The body is like that. The best thing to do is take care of it as much as possible. A good example of that is Bernard Hopkins. Bernard took care of his body, he diets. You never heard about him having to lose a ton of weight. The last fight, the only thing you heard was how he was going to gain weight to fight Tarver.

PC: There are rumors out that Bernard may fight at heavyweight. What are your thoughts on that?

RA: Yeah, I’ve heard rumors of 20 million and all that, but I don’t get in Bernard’s business. That’s my promoter slash partner and I don’t ask him any questions about it. Who’s going to turn down 25 million dollars? Everybody has bills to pay. No matter how much money you make, you could always make more. That kind of money is a no brainer to persuade anybody to fight. If that’s the kind of money on the table, then ya’ll might get a chance to see Bernard come back as a heavyweight.

PC:  What’s your thought’s on your other promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. mixing it up?

RA: That’s going to be a nice fight. Mayweather and Oscar are both thinkers. This fight will be about who’s more intelligent; not faster or stronger. I can’t really make a decision. I love Oscar, but I also love Floyd.

PC: I know Kassim Ouma is training out there in Philly. How do you see his fight with Taylor playing out? 

RA: Yeah, Kassim is my homey. With JT, sometimes it’s good to be the smaller guy because you’re faster and it makes the bigger guy punch down at you. I’m not sure in this case, but Kassim is my buddy and I don’t want to get that involved. I don’t want to be like, “Oh, Kassim going to kick JT’s butt because he my homie.” You have to be a realist and look at the whole picture.

PC: Philadelphia has never been short of great champions. I know your pops has you on those old tapes. Which Philadelphia fighter sticks out in your mind?

RA: As a matter of fact, we were watching some Meldrick Taylor not too long ago. Meldrick Taylor was an unbelievable talent man. I don’t think he gets his credit like he’s supposed to. I think it’s sad that you look at him now. The way he talks and dress and all that, people forget what he accomplished. I think that just shows that nobody never really had that love for him. Noone told him when to get out the game or you spending this and you spending that. Fighters lose their money in taxes. That’s why I’m glad I have my father there and Bernard…to get advice from them. You have to pay them taxes. The government will eat you up.

PC: Thanks for your time Rock. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?

RA: I want to thank you man for setting this time up for me.

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