Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez stops Brian Viloria in ninth round

There’s no hype machine needed for world flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

The unbeaten Nicaraguan continually slugged former world champion Brian Viloria on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, an onslaught that paced him to a ninth-round technical-knockout victory.

Gonzalez’s triumph preceded the night’s co-main event, a middleweight title unification bout between World Boxing Assn. champion Gennady Golovkin and International Boxing Federation champion David Lemieux.

Gonzalez’s performance was so complete and entertaining that fight promoter Tom Loeffler said, “He’s ready to carry his own show now. He’s at the top of the sport.”

Trained by his late countryman and former champion Alexis Arguello as he developed, Gonzalez (44-0, 38 knockouts) has elevated toward the top of most pound-for-pound rankings following last month’s retirement by Floyd Mayweather Jr.

He showed why in a relentless performance against Viloria (36-5), who praised “Chocolatito’s” quickness and labeled him the best fighter he’s seen.

Gonzalez first dropped Viloria with a short right hand in the third round and sought to finish him with a right-left-right combination.

His continued punching to the body and head clearly fatigued the proud 34-year-old Viloria, who absorbed 200 punches while dishing out 131 through six rounds.

He got buzzed by Gonzalez’s punches in the eighth, then was battered in Gonzalez’s corner, only to retreat left along the ropes, where more damage ensued.

A hard left to the head closed the assault, referee Benjy Esteves Jr. stopping the bout at 2 minutes 53 seconds of the ninth after a hard left to the head wobbled Viloria.

Gonzalez finished with a 335-186 punch advantage.

Unbeaten heavyweight Luis Ortiz impressively posted his 20th knockout in 23 fights, decking Argentinian Matias Ariel Vidondo (20-2-1) at the 17-second mark of the third round.

Ortiz first planted the outmatched Vidondo with a sudden right to the face in the second round before ending the bout with a left to the head.

In the pay-per-view opener, Tureano Johnson of the Bahamas twice knocked down Ireland’s Eamonn O’Kane in the first round en route to a unanimous-decision triumph by scores of 118-108, 119-107 and 117-109.

Johnson (19-1) claimed the International Boxing Federation title eliminator victory despite losing some of the zest of his powerful right hooks, slowing especially in rounds five through seven as the proud O’Kane (17-2-1) slugged through the shock of his rough start.

In the end, he connected on 405 punches to O’Kane’s 234.

“This is my first time going 12 rounds and … it feels good,” Johnson said. “Tough fight. No matter how many times O’Kane went down he kept coming at me.

“Winning this really makes everything for me come full circle and legitimizes me as a true threat in the middleweight division. You know this was a great fight that everyone enjoyed. A true brawl. This is the beginning for me, the sky is the limit.”

By winning, there’s a chance Johnson could emerge as the next opponent of the Golovkin-Lemieux winner.

Although the World Boxing Council has ordered the Nov. 21 Miguel Cotto-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez winner to fight the Golovkin-Lemieux winner, an extension into the fall of 2016 could heighten anticipation with Johnson inserted as a spring foe.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire