NEWARK, New Jersey – Vito Mielnicki Jr. intended to knock out Kamil Gardzielik to send his fans home completely satisfied Saturday night.

The young middleweight instead dominated the Polish veteran over the course of 10 rounds and convincingly won a unanimous decision at Prudential Center. Mielnicki (21-1-1, 12 KOs) knocked Gardzielik down during the third round and shut him out on all three scorecards in a main event ESPN+ streamed from the home arena of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

Judges Lynne Carter, Mark Consentino and Paul Wallace all scored their fight 100-89 for Mielnicki.

A 10-round majority draw with Connor Coyle (21-0-1, 9 KOs) in his last fight motivated Mielnicki more than usual to perform better before his home crowd. Mielnicki grew up in Roseland, New Jersey, about 20 minutes from Prudential Center.

“I was happy with my performance,” Mielnicki said during his post-fight interview. “This camp we worked on sticking to the game plan, not getting out of my game plan when I hurt somebody. I felt as though we did a great job of that.”

Mielnicki, 23, produced this much-needed win at the same venue where he made his pro debut as a 17-year-old high school student nearly six years ago. Gardzielik, 32, entered their bout unbeaten, but he had defeated a low level of opposition overall and had knocked out only 21 percent of his opponents.

By the 10th round, it seemed clear the crafty Gardzielik (19-1, 4 KOs) would take Mielnicki the distance. Mielnicki controlled the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds, but he couldn’t hurt Gardzielik the way he had done in previous rounds.

A counter right hand by Mielnicki toward the end of the sixth round made Gardzielik move toward the other side of the ring. Gardzielik had difficulty dealing with Mielnicki’s pressure for much of the sixth round.

Gardzielik caught Mielnicki with a flush right hand a few seconds before the fifth round ended. Mielnicki took that shot well after controlling much of the action in the fifth round.

Mielnicki nailed Gardzielik with a right as they exchanged with just over a minute remaining in the fourth round.

Mielnicki’s right hand dropped Gardzielik with 2:07 to go in the third round. Gardzielik answered referee David Franciosi’s count in plenty of time and kept Mielnicki from hurt him again in the third round.

Gardzielik defended himself well during the second round, other than a stiff jab Mielnicki landed early in it. Gardzielik didn’t throw many punches, though, and seemed wary of getting caught in exchanges.

Mielnicki went after Gardzielik’s body in the final minute of the opening round. Gardzielik covered up for much of those first three minutes, as Mielnicki came forward.