Who are some of the best fighters who never received a title shot?

In addition the McGrain's excellent choices:

Ezzard Charles never got a shot at the lightheavyweight title, despite dominating that division. That was back in the 40's.

Harry Wills never got a shot at the heavyweight title. Some thing Dempsey or his management avoided him, others think the fight was not makeable due to racism...

I think Pinklon Thomas in his prime was an outstanding fighter with a great jab and right hand (watch the one-punch KO over Weaver) was robbed of a shot at the linear title but Holmes. He did fight for an alphabet title and got his shot at Tyson's title later (Tyson was a lot more willingly than Holmes in taking on opponents by then), but Thomas had lost a lot of fighting ability by then.

 

Jeff Clark was the outstanding middleweight for many years without receiving a title shot.

 

The list goes on and on with black fighters. A few off the top of my head--Peter Jackson, Sam Langford, Joe Jeannette, Sam McVey, Harry Wills, Jeff Clark, Canada Lee, George Godfrey, Holman Williams, Charley Burley, Jimmy Bivins, Lloyd Marshall, Eddie Booker, Elmer Ray--Many as good or better than most champions.

Mauro Mina back in the sixties.

 

Sam Langford, Charley Burley and Peter Jackson.

 

Bennie Briscoe was a tough mother. Don't think he ever got a shot.

Of course, the black greats of the early years are the obvious candidates.

But yep, Charley Burley wins the award, if there is one.

 

All the black fighters I named had excellent chances of winning a title and most, if not all would have been favored (Wills over Willard if not Dempsey) and many fought through the reigns of several champions. If your question is, were the official champions necessarily the best fighters, the answer is clearly often "no". Were black fighters often avoided because they were too good, the answer is "yes" and this was a cliche back in the old days.

 

did billy petrolle get a title shot?

 

Well, no, but you are talking a long period of time. A good example is Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, and Blackjack Billy Fox in the 1940's lightheavyweight class. Fox got the shot because he was owned lock, stock, and barrel by Blinky Palermo, a mafia bigshot. Charles and Moore later got a shot, however. If a black fighter was extremely flashy or entertaining, and box office, things could break his way--examples Robinson and Louis. Robinson had a flashy personality also. One who did not stand out as particularly entertaining in the ring could get the go-by pretty easily. There were outright and all but impassible color lines drawn at times, among the heavyweights prior to Louis, for example, but there were other color lines. In the forties Louis was champion among the heavies, and Robinson and Williams at welter and lightweight. I think the powers that be were worried about "too many black champions" and so black middles and lightheavies were screwed.

Moore would be a classic example, a top middle and lightheavy contender for years, viewed perhaps as slightly dull and fighting almost exclusively against other blacks. When Marciano won the heavyweight crown, thus changing the racial equation, Moore immediately gets a shot and a new manager, Jack Kearns, and emerges as one of the most colorful and box-office fighters in the business.

 

Tony Canzoneri repelled The Fargo Express in defending his World Lightweight Championship in November, 1932.

Unfortunately for Billy, this may have been Canzi's peak performance, and some have suggested that Tony was as good as Gans, Benny Leonard, Henry Armstrong, Duran or any other lightweight who has ever lived on that occasion. Canzi's 15 round decision over Petrolle is the one primarily responsible for making Tony an inaugural enshrinee in the IBHOF.