TORQUAY teenager Nathan Halton is one bout away from appearing in his second national schoolboys' final in three years.

The 14-year old Westlands pupil, who trains with Apollo ABC, won his age-group in 2008 when the ESABA English Schoolboys' Championships were referred to as The Golden Gloves.

Now, with its name restored, he's reached the last four in the 70-kilos (Class 3) category after beating Gerald Nivin (Lewsey ABC) on points in last weekend's quarter finals between the Southern Counties and Home Counties at Sittingbourne (Kent) Community Centre.

The semi-finals are on Saturday week (February 20) at Hazelmere in Surrey where Halton will face Jamie Branch, son of a former ABA senior championship winner of the same name and winner of his quarter-final when the Eastern Counties faced London.

Halton's Apollo ABC coach Barry Walmsley left no stone unturned for the meeting with Nivin, driving the 500 mile round trip to Kent 24 hours before Saturday's show-down.

The extra attention to detail in preparation paid dividends, with Halton landing three scoring points without reply in the opening round under the electronic scoring system.

"Nivin didn't really want to know after that, and kept grabbing hold during the second and third rounds without either boy landing a scoring shot.

"In the end, Nathan won 3-0, but he can box better than that. In fact, we'll be working hard on his sharpness before the semi-finals," said Walmsley.