to separate the two in the first round. I think that in the first minute, Floyd did land two clean shots, the best punches of that round.

Speculation on my part: I suspect that Floyd remembered what Cus D'Amato had told Ali before the Foreman bout -- you need to come right out and land a clean, hard right-cross. That is to make the opponent realize you have more punching power than he anticipated. If you do it in the first 20 seconds, against a guy considered the dangerous puncher, you can influence his confidence per coming right at you, attacking early. I could be wrong, of course, but in the first 45 seconds, I was reminded of Cus's advice.