Picture this: the fastest man in the world, Noah Lyles, lining up against Tyreek Hill, one of the NFL’s quickest players. Sounds like something straight out of a sports movie, right? Well, it’s actually happening. Ever since Lyles clinched that gold medal in Paris, people have been buzzing about a possible race between him and Hill, who ran a 20.14 in the 200m as a high schooler and even snagged a bronze medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships.

Now, it’s official: Lyles and Hill are set to race in 2025 as part of a new series called “Super Serious On Sight,” hosted by Terry Crews. The race will be part of a new track league, Duael, which will feature Olympic athletes competing head-to-head against professional athletes in an elimination-style competition.  Fans are excited too, wondering if Hill’s speed on the football field can translate to the track.

The hype around the potential race got even bigger when Lyles spoke about it during an interview with LetsRun.com on YouTube. In his words, “It’s one of the things that I hope to be unveiling soon. I’ll just say the talks are going very well. And if this goes to the level that we want it to, this is going to be a Mike Tyson-Jake Paul type event.” That’s high praise for a race, but with so much anticipation building, it might just be the spectacle fans are hoping for.

The hype around the Tyson vs. Paul fight was unreal. It pulled in an estimated 108 million live viewers globally, with 65 million peak streams and 38 million in the US. Everyone was talking about it, especially with Tyson making those wild claims, like getting divine inspiration from smoking toad venom and wanting to give his kids a “different opinion” of him. The media circus was massive. Now, shifting gears to Noah Lyles and Tyreek Hill, how has the whole race talk started?

Noah Lyles fires back at Hill’s bold challenge

Noah Lyles has confidently declared himself the fastest man alive, but Tyreek Hill decided to challenge him. After Lyles narrowly beat streamer IShowSpeed in a 100-meter race earlier this month, Hill’s desire to race the Olympic gold medalist only grew stronger. Hill, seeing just how close Lyles’ race with Speed was, took to social media, saying, “And track athletes think he’s gonna beat me,” accompanied by laughing emojis, clearly feeling more confident than ever.

Lyles wasn’t about to let the challenge slide. He quickly responded, “Awww, feeling left out. I’ll dance across the line on you too,” with a wink emoji, making it clear he was up for the competition. Speed jumped in on the banter as well, teasing Hill, saying, “He’s scared to race me but he’s trying to race you. Tyreek, you gotta get through me first.” It seems like the smack talk has only made the race more exciting, with everyone eager to see if Hill can back up his bold claims.

As for the actual race, Lyles has set his conditions. He’s open to racing Hill, but only if it’s done right. In an interview with NBC News, Lyles explained, “If somebody wants to sponsor the event and we’re racing for millions of dollars and it’s on a track and we’re running 100 meters, then sure, we can race.” He made it clear that he’s not interested in gimmicks and won’t settle for anything less than a legitimate 100-meter race. Lyles also shut down Hill’s suggestion of a 50-yard dash, insisting, “It has to be legit.” It looks like this race, which is now confirmed, is going to be one for the books.