10. Billy Petrolle
Years active: 1922-1934
Fight Record: 89-21-10, 66 KO
Championships: None
Billy Petrolle (William Petrolla) was considered too much of a risk by the lightweight champions during the mid-late twenties. The “Fargo Express”, as he was known, wooed crowds with his displays of powerful body punching and breath-taking toe-to-toe exchanges. His fearlessness, fighting courage and KO punch prompted Nat Fleischer to write that “fighters of his ability come but once in a lifetime.” Petrolle beat eight world champions including Tony Canzoneri and Jimmy McLarnin. Elected into Boxing’s Hall of Fame in 1962, he is widely recognized as one of the best boxers never to have won a world title.
