In an incident reminiscent of the Mick Fanning shark attack, former champion boxer Craig Ison, 52, sustained significant wounds to his left leg and hand in a dawn attack at Evans Head, 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Sydney.

The incident brought back dramatic images from South Africa when Australian three-time world champion surfer Mick Fanning fought off a shark.

Ison's fellow surfer and friend Geoff Hill, who in the water with Ison, said it was "like watching a Mick Fanning replay," The Telegraph reported. 

"We were just paddling out this morning and Craig was 20 metres ahead of me. Then he said, 'go in, there's a shark.' But it grabbed him as he turned around... he managed to get himself on his board. It was like watching a Mick Fanning replay. I paddled to him but by then he was on his board and paddling back," Hill said.

"The leg was a bit of a mess, taken a bit of flesh but the muscle is intact," he added, according to NBC News.  

"As he paddled towards shore, the 52-year-old was attacked by the shark which bit his left leg. The impact of the attack knocked the man off his board. The man punched the shark in an attempt to scare it away; during the struggle, the shark also bit his left arm. The man eventually made it to shore where a passer-by applied a tourniquet to his leg," say the police reports confirming the incident.

Fanning escaped unharmed after he punched a shark during a competition in South Africa in a widely televised incident, which later went viral.

The attack comes just days after a scallop diver was killed by a shark off Maria Island in the southern state of Tasmania as his daughter watched.

Water sports enthusiasts and experts say that while attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular, fatalities remain rare.