That was a former Dubbo man's reaction to an alleged king hit which put him in hospital and left him with fractures in his eye socket which will require further surgery.

The man who doesn't wish to be named was celebrating New Year's Eve with some family and friends when the attack happened. He said he had never met the person before, had done nothing to provoke them and had no idea the punch was coming.

The 45-year-old is member of the Australian Defence Force who has served overseas and said the punch was the most cowardly thing he has come across.

"I want people to be aware that's going on in Dubbo. All the Sydney media is covering it and the prime minister is talking about it but it is going on in Dubbo as well," he said.

"I was left haemorrhaging behind my eye, two fractures in the eye socket and five stitches above the eye. The fractures will require further surgery to correct.

"You don't expect this sort of thing to happen. We were just looking for a quiet place to celebrate New Year's Eve."

While his injuries were bad enough, the man said they could have been even worse.

"I was sitting on a tall bar stool so if my head hit the concrete, which was only about a metre away, instead of carpet, it could have been a lot worse," he said.

"I hope the courts deal with this appropriately. I had never met the guy before he hit me, he waited until I was sitting by myself and he came running from behind a post. My father and a family friend had already called it a night and my nephew had gone to the bathroom.

"After that I remember being on the floor and hearing commotion going on. I had blood flowing from my head, and I had to be taken to hospital and have a CT Scan."

In Sydney king hits are becoming increasingly common and the majority of them are alcohol related incidents.

On the same night the attack happened in Dubbo, Daniel Christie was king hit in Sydney and left in a life threatening situation, while Thomas Kelly was killed in July 2012 when his head hit the pavement after being struck.

Mr Christie's family are lobbying for the king hit to become known as a coward's punch.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has also weighed into the argument, saying offenders should be treated with "appropriate severity".

'The police, the courts, the judges ought to absolutely throw the book at people who perpetrate this kind of gratuitous, unprovoked violence,'' Mr Abbott told 2GB on Thursday.