WASHINGTON — Australian surfer Mick Fanning staved off a shark attack, beating back the predator with his fists during a competition in South Africa on Sunday.

Fanning was surfing in the finals of the World Surfing League’s J-Bay Open, which broadcast the incident on live TV. The organization has since posted footage of the attack on YouTube. In the video, the shark appears to circle the surfer, knocking him off his board.

“I saw fins. I was waiting for teeth,” the surfer told Fox Sports. “I punched him in the back.”

The footage then shows the surfer being rescued, apparently uninjured.

The J-Bay Open was canceled two hours after the attack, Fox Sports reports.