Julian Rodriguez proved to be the bane of Cain Sandoval’s existence.

“Hammer Hands” Rodriguez (25-1, 15 KOs) lived up to his nickname by smashing Sandoval (17-1, 15 KOs) with effective aggression and sharply outboxed him en route to a unanimous decision win Friday as part of the Zuffa Boxing 1 card at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

The judges scored the 10-round welterweight fight 99-91, 99-91, 98-92 in favor of Rodriguez.

Rodriguez outlanded Sandoval 229 to 186, according to CompuBox. And it was Rodriguez who repeatedly landed the more eye-catching shots.

Rodriguez was a betting underdog despite coming off a riveting and career-reviving final-round knockout victory over another undefeated prospect in Avious Griffin in June. Sandoval, meanwhile, had only beaten second-rate opposition before facing the experienced Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, a 31-year-old native from New Jersey, demonstrated exceptional distance and range throughout the encounter by outfoxing the forward-charging Sandoval and muting his pressure with effective power punches off his back foot.

“I won the fight clean, but he’s a f------ dog, man,” said Rodriguez. “We applied a lot of pressure. He made some adjustments and put more pressure, and I had to adjust.”

From the opening bell, Rodriguez established superior speed and stopped Sandoval in his tracks with a snapping uppercut.

Sandoval marched Rodriguez into the corner several times in the second and third rounds, but it was the backed-up Rodriguez who was getting the better of the exchanges with combinations capped off by thudding body shots and spinning out of close quarters.

Rodriguez continued rocking Sandoval in the fourth, as his Freddie Roach-coached counterpart showed very little head movement while throwing pitter-patter punches.

Sandoval, a 23-year-old from Sacramento, California, who was making his 147-pound debut, saw his pressure start paying off in the fifth.

At the midway point of the fight, Rodriguez had outlanded Sandoval 107 to 86, but his face began to show signs of some damage.

Rodriguez was durable during times of duress, however, and rallied in the sixth and made it pure savagery in the seventh by bludgeoning the battering ram Sandoval with a slew of power punches.

Sandoval did better in the eighth, by far his best round, but Rodriguez rebounded to close the show in the last two rounds, punctuated by a head-snapping two-punch combination as the final bell sounded.

“He’s tough, he had a giant f------ head, that guy,” said Rodriguez. “I just had to stay calm. That’s where the mental toughness comes in. I’m still learning and enjoying the process. It takes fights like this to become a better fighter.”

Rodriguez ended his post-fight speech by declaring his intent to become the first welterweight champion in Zuffa Boxing history.

The win was the fourth in a row for Rodriguez, who suffered the lone loss of his career against Jose Pedraza by stoppage in 2021.

Preliminary Results:

In the first fight of Zuffa Boxing history, Troy Nash (6-0-1, 1 KO) outlanded Jaycob Ramos (4-1, 1 KO) 96 to 79 in a highly competitive and action-packed six-round lightweight clash to score a unanimous decision win by scores 59-55, 59-55, 58-56. ...

Omar Trinidad scored the first knockdown and stoppage win in Zuffa Boxing history when he dropped Max Ornelas three times en route to a 10th-round technical knockout in their featherweight fight. Trinidad (20-0-2, 14 KOs) dropped Ornelas (17-3-1, 6 KOs) in the second round with a stiff jab and twice more in the third with left hooks and ultimately got the win once concerned referee Thomas Taylor ruled the busted and bruised Ornelas unfit to continue 30 seconds into the final round. ...

Well-skilled 20-year-old lightweight Robert Meriweather III (10-0, 4 KOs) scored a unanimous decision win against Cesar Correa (5-1, 4 KOs) by scores of 60-54, 60-54, 59-55. ...

Talented Robert Garcia-trained bantamweight Emiliano Cardenas (10-0, 4 KOs) scored a unanimous decision win against Marcus Harris (7-2, 5 KO) in their six-round fight by scores of 60-54, 60-54, 58-56. ...

Floyd Diaz (14-0, 3 KOs) beat Guillermo Gutierrez (13-3, 1 KO) by unanimous decision in their eight-round bantamweight bout by scores of 79-73, 79-73, 79-73.