On Dec. 12, Kevin “The Kingpin” Johnson will face World Boxing Council Champion Vitali Klitschko for the heavyweight title in Berne, Switzerland.

But for right now, he is living and training in Douglasville, watching fight tapes and readying himself for the big date.

“I watch fight tapes all day,” Johnson, 30, said Tuesday at his trainer’s home. Both of his trainers live here, as does Johnson, who said the peace and quiet allow him to be more disciplined and focused.

Dressed in a long black robe, T-shirt and pajama bottoms, he could almost be the boy next door. He doesn’t look menacing or intimidating and has a laid-back kind of confidence this particular day. He is nice, well-mannered and respectful, in fact.

But Google him (some 19,000 entries) or watch him box on YouTube, and one will find a different Johnson — still confident, but laid back? Not so much.

It’s what has placed him at No. 5 in the World Boxing Council, although Johnson is quick to say he’s No. 1. And, for the record, he is undefeated with 22 wins, one draw and nine knockouts (KOs).

Johnson, born in Asbury Park, N.J., said he is blessed with the skill and self-discipline to bring the heavyweight title back to the United States. Although Klitschko is taller (he is 6 feet, 6-1/2 inches tall; Johnson is six feet, three inches), Johnson is eight years younger and Klitschko considers him a formidable opponent.

“I can hardly wait to step into the ring again,” Klitschko said in an article on his Web site. “Kevin Johnson is very dangerous. He already had 23 fights as a pro and is undefeated. He is technically much better than my last opponent Arreola. I know I can’t underestimate Johnson, but I have no doubt to keep the WBC belt.”

The Ukrainian, who has a Ph.D. in sports science, has a professional record of 38 wins (37 KOs) and two defeats due to injury.

Yet, Johnson does not consider himself David to Klitschko’s Goliath. He loves a challenge. He said he is not happy at the level he is right now and wants more.

“I love breaking records and making history,” he said. “Vitali Klitschko is the champion, but I will dethrone him.”

Johnson refers to the match, which will be at the PostFinance Arena in Berne, as the “Retirement Fight.”

“Once you are a heavyweight champion, you’re the man. There’s nothing else to accomplish,” he said. “You just sit back and defend your title. It will be my degree in Fightology,”

He showed a copy of the promo commercial he and Klitschko shot for HBO in the Swiss Alps at the highest peak. He said the air was so thin it was unbelievable. It was a long way from Asbury Park, a city one square mile long with one way in and one way out, he said. He grew up surrounded by family who all lived within a one-block radius of each other.

Johnson began boxing at age 18 and turned pro when he was 23. When he started, he was mentored by World Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes and former NBA Star Darryl Dawkins, with whom he lived early in his career. They are Johnson’s idols. He said he knew he would be a “different kind of fighter” because of them. But he also respects three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali because of his agility, speed and more.

“I like him because of his flamboyance, his ego and the way he marketed himself,” Johnson said. “His mouth and my mouth run concurrent. He’s a very intelligent man for a guy who didn’t graduate from high school. He should have been a psychiatrist — he played a lot of mental games.”

Boxing has afforded Johnson the opportunity to travel all over the world. He said he’s been everywhere except Japan, and he has no desire to go there — too many people.

That’s why he likes — no, loves — Douglasville. He said he looked at two cities when he was ready to relocate, Douglasville and West Palm Beach, Fla. It was too hot in Florida, so Douglasville won out. One of his four sisters lives here, as does a sister-in-law. His goal is to move all of his family here: his mother, remaining siblings and 10-year-old daughter.

Johnson has two brothers and four sisters. One brother, a lawyer, is his manager. His other brother works in the pretrial justice system in the District of Columbia. One sister is finishing medical school, and his mother, with three college degrees, has gone back to college for one more, he said.

Locally, Johnson has been involved with the Youth Against Violence program, often speaking before the group of at-risk teens.

“I love that program,” he exclaimed. “When I was coming up, we didn’t have that. If you did something wrong, you suffered the consequences and there was no second or third chance. When I was a juvenile, I really was a juvenile.”

Johnson said he tested everything that was told to him.

“If you said don’t steal it, I stole it. If you said something was hot, I touched it. If you said don’t drop something, I dropped it,” he said. “I can’t change the past, but it made me a stronger man today.”