Jeff Horton escaped from a bloodthirsty shark the only way he knew how -- by fighting back.

Horton, a former boxer, was sitting on his surfboard off Kauai's north shore when he noticed a 12-foot-long tiger shark swimming towards his board.

"I had my feet dangling, hanging below my surfboard, and I saw this thing coming up," Horton said. "And my instinct was 'whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,' and the thing comes right up. And I yanked my foot out right where it took the bite. Bit my board and missed my foot. And it flipped me and I rolled on top of it."

Horton says he started punching the shark and even threw a haymaker in its eye. After about eight punches, Horton says, the shark spit out his board and tossed him off its back. Horton quickly hopped on the board and caught the next wave back to shore.

"Somebody's watching over me," Horton said.

The next day Horton went surfing at another local beach.

(H/T to Deadspin)