One-punch knockout power is the biggest draw in boxing, and Curtis Stevens, a 19-year-old prospect from Brooklyn, knows he has it.

“I put on a show,” said Stevens (4-0, 4 KOs), who will face Darren Johnson (3-5, 3 KOs) at the Manhattan Center tonight. “I knock people out; I demolish them. I’m fast; I have power. My hook is like a meteorite. You know how, if a giant meteorite hits the earth, we’d all be gone? Well, if I hit you with my hook, you’re gone.”

True to his word, Stevens is a crippling puncher with an aggressive, attacking style. Despite his diminutive stature – he’s only 5-feet-7-inches tall – his early fights have been as a light heavyweight. Fans watch closely when he’s in the ring because at any moment something might happen. He has the same aura of ferocious charisma that Mike Tyson had when he was young.

“Outside the ring, I’m a nice person,” Stevens said. “In the ring, I’m a different man. In the ring, I’m someone you don’t want to mess with. I get angry. I get violent and crazy. In the ring, I’m the most dangerous person in the world.”

Stevens was born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, where he still lives with his 11-year-old sister and his mother, a counselor at the Department of Juvenile Justice who rides her bike behind him when he does his morning roadwork.

The streets where Stevens runs each day are embodied in words and images tattoed all over his body. “Brownsville” is written on his back. On his neck is “Don of Dons.” On his left forearm, there’s the image of a heart and crucifix with the words “Pain Is Love” and “Tanya” (his mother’s name). On his right hand are three words: “Brother,” “Hood,” and “D.B.D,” the latter of which stands for death before dishonor. (“That’s the code I live by,” he says.)

“I know the streets,” Stevens said. “But I know the boundaries of life, too. Don’t be out there selling drugs because, sooner or later, you’re gonna get locked up. Don’t get in a fight that will land you in trouble. With every option, there’s a repercussion; so think before you make a move.”

Stevens’s fistic education began at age 5, when an uncle (Andre Rozier) took him to the Starrett City Gym in Brooklyn. At age 8, he had his first amateur fight. The high point of his amateur career was twin championships at 178 pounds in the 2002 United States Amateur Championships and National Golden Gloves.

“God gave me this talent,” Stevens said, “and my uncle taught me how to use it. I had maybe 250 amateur fights. There were 11 losses, but I was never knocked down and never stopped. The worst I was hurt was my last year in the amateurs. I was fighting at heavyweight and, in the first round of a fight, I got hit with a hook-uppercut so hard. Damn! My legs wobbled; I got an eight-count. But I survived and knocked the other guy’s ass out in the second round.”

Stevens turned pro last September and, since then, has four knockout victories in four fights. He plans on going down to 160 pounds, hoping that fighting lighter opponents will maximize his power.

That makes sense. The knock on Stevens in the amateurs was that he wasn’t in the best of shape and tended to fade as fights wore on. The question now is, what happens when he gets in the ring with a guy who can take a punch and stick and move and bang a bit? What if Curtis is getting stung with jabs, and the numbers on the round cards keep climbing? Will he go for the victory or will he just try to survive?

“You know the answer to that” is Stevens’s response. “Anyone can be good, but it’s hard to be great. I’m gonna be great. Mike Tyson, when he was young, was a great champion. I want to be like him except for the crazy stuff.”

Few fighters reach Mike Tyson’s level, of course. But Stevens has world-class potential if he maximizes his gifts.

Tonight, he faces Johnson at 168 pounds in a fight slated for six rounds. It won’t last that long. Johnson has lost five of his last six fights and been knocked out twice. It would be good for Stevens, the fans, and boxing in general if Curtis were to face more competitive opposition in the future.

The Manhattan Center is located at 311 West 34th St. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. The first fight is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tickets are priced at $100, $75, $50, and $35, and can be purchased at the door or in advance by calling 212-947-2577. Eight bouts are scheduled, including junior-middleweight Yuri Foreman (16-0, 7 KOs) versus Jesus Soto (11-2-1, 10 KOs) in the main event.