WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) believes Tyson Fury does not get enough respect in the UK.

Fury shocked boxing when he traveled to Germany and outboxed Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 to win a twelve round unanimous decision, to capture the IBO, WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world titles.

That was the last time Fury (24-0, 18 KOs) would see action in the ring.

Not long after that win, Fury traveled over to Brooklyn to sit ringside at the Barclays Center to watch Wilder score a brutal knockout of Artur Szpilka.

After the fight, Fury entered the ring and traded words with Wilder in a face to face manner to a live Showtime televised audience.

But their fight never happened and Fury has yet to fight again.

Fury began to struggle with his mental health, the abuse of alcohol and recreational drugs like cocaine. After pulled out from two planned rematch dates with Klitschko, Fury vacated his titles to focus on getting help for his mental health and substance abuse issues. Fury then lost his boxing license after admitting to using recreational drugs.

Now Fury is starting to train, he's working hard to lose all of the weight that was gained during his two years of inactivity, and he hopes to regain his license to box to make a ring return in 2018.

To regain his license, Fury must settle a legal issue with drug test agency UKAD, who allege the boxer tested positive for a banned substance in early 2015.

Wilder hopes everything can be resolved and Fury comes back.

"I love him as a person and a fighter," said Wilder to BBC. "A guy like that, charismatic, entertaining, you must respect because he's different. People don't want to understand different.

"If it wasn't for Tyson Fury, England wouldn't be on the map like it is. I feel he should be more respected in that country than he is. They should give him his licence back. He is still a human being and should be allowed to get on with his life. He is still the champion in a lot of people's eyes, he has not been beaten yet."