VIDEO: Surfer fights off shark with fists

Australian surfer Mick Fanning survived a shark attack in yesterday’s final of the World Surfing League’s J-Bay Open in South Africa, fighting off the circling predator with his fists.

Fanning, three-times world surfing champion, was paddling out to ride his first wave when the unidentified species of shark surfaced next to him, knocking the 34-year-old off his board.

The Australian managed to fight off the predator, hitting it on its back before it swam off, leaving him shaken as he waited for a support boat to return him safely to shore.