He had another fight that same year , meaning he was back in training camp soon after the loss. That and the fact he wanted nothing to do with Byrd ever again tells me all i need to know. He wanted out and had to come up with some excuse. Fighters don't quit because they are feeling pain. He no massed out of the fight. Go watch Povetkin against Firtha. Thats a REAL one armed man winning a fight. Go watch Danny Williams win with a grotesque injury to his shoulder . His arm was hanging off like he got blasted by a grenade. He won by ko with ONE arm. At no point did Vitali ever look like he was suffering from an injury. These things are easy to pick up on. He was blasting away with both arms right up until the end of the 9th round.
It's not pure revisionism. He went 12 rounds with prime Holyfield, as you say, and he was fighting as the aggressor. He shipped a lot of punishment but came on strong near the end. Tyson and Douglas couldn't manage 12 rounds with Holyfield. They were slapped silly, and folded under far less punishment. Foreman was taken seriously by other heavyweights, especially after the Holyfield fight. Moorer was undefeated when Foreman beat him. You say "inconsistent", but not only was he undefeated, he was actually fighting one of his most inspired fights.
The reinvention of Chris Byrd as some sort of heavyweight force is the revisionism, imo. He was an awkward spoiler who mostly took on the second-tier and past-prime men in the division, and had some close and disputed decisions to see him through too. Who did Byrd ever beat who old Foreman couldn't beat ? His best wins are when Vitali injured himself and quit, and a decision over Tua. I have little doubt Foreman would have battered Tua badly, and Vitali woudn't fancy fighting Foreman with one arm ! Foreman's performance against a prime Holyfield is more impressive than Byrd's slap and spoil effort against an ancient Holyfield. Golota would probably sh!t his pants sometime during a fight with old George, and quit, or get stopped.
Moorer was a headcase. His one big win was over a Holyfield who was off. The Foreman he fought in his "inspired" fight was pushing 46 and hadn't fought in fifteen months .. be serious please .. George was amazing for a guy his age but he fought the biggest selection of handpicked opponents imaginable .. you want to claim he was some serious world beater in his second career be my guest but you're not serious.
No, I'm not claiming he was "some serious world beater", whatever that means. But he was a genuine contender and a champion on his merits. He was a force to be reckoned with. Look at the other guys in the rankings at the time, and Foreman compares okay to most of them. How many fighters were "serious world beaters" or "serious HW forces" (your terms) in the 1990s then ? I think the men who can be clearly ranked in a higher class than Foreman at the time are very few in number, perhaps 2 or 3 men .... and it's a category that someone like Byrd never achieved either, in his own era. Foreman fighting handpicked opponents is news to no one, and describes the greater part of his 1970s career too.
Foreman made no qualms that he ducked Bowe, Lewis, Mercer, Ruddock .. he wanted no part of any of them .. he chose small guys and/or slower guys .. he choose to fight who he fought ..
Well, Bowe didn't fight Lewis, Mercer or Ruddock either. Foreman's strategy was pretty much the same as in the 1970s under D!ck Sadler. He fought lower-tier guys and handpicked opponents regularly and ballyhooed his way to a title shot. Foreman called out Bowe when Bowe was champion, and the fight was always made but it seems Rock Newman chose to fight Mike Dokes instead.
He didnt fight smaller or slower guys. He fought guys who would stand in front of him and not run or stick and move. Ironically, most of those he chose, would change their style and try to box and move. I cant see Foreman agreeing to fight byrd, unless it was for a championship belt.