LAS VEGAS -- James Page will not defend his WBA welterweight title on the Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz undercard because of a dispute over the purse bid for his fight with Andrew Lewis.

Page's manager, James Prince, said Thursday his fighter will not fight on Saturday night and will appeal to the WBA for a new purse bid.

"He definitely won't be fighting," Prince said.

Prince claimed that promoter Don King and the WBA never responded to repeated requests for a new purse bid after the fight card originally set for June 10 was postponed because of an injury to Holyfield.

Prince said that Page wasn't notified of the new date until too late to train properly to defend his title. The fight was to be televised by Showtime on the undercard of the Holyfield-Ruiz WBA heavyweight title fight.

"Everybody at Don King Productions has been ignoring our phone calls and refusing to talk to us," Prince said. "He's totally ready to fight but we needed to be advised of a date."

King said at Wednesday's pre-fight news conference that Page had a contract to fight, and called on the WBA and Nevada Athletic Commission to force him to appear.

"He knew he was fighting June 10 and we notified his manager when he was going to fight," King said. "It's ludicrous."

The WBA sent Page's attorneys a letter last week saying that there would be no new purse bid and that it expected Page to fight or he could be stripped of his title.

King won a purse bid that would have paid Page $112,500 to fight Lewis. Under WBA rules, however, the fight had to take place within 60 days of the purse bid.

Because of the postponement of the original fight card, it did not.

"I want the Nevada commission and the WBA to stand up to its rules and regulations," King said.

Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada commission, said the dispute was a civil matter and the commission would take no position on it.

Prince, who also manages Floyd Mayweather Jr., said he hoped his fighter would get a new purse and that he hoped the WBA wasn't controlled by King.

"I don't want to speak prematurely but I would definitely say it's a conspiracy if Page doesn't get a new date," he said. "He's a King fighter and that's the way he handles fighters. I just hope the WBA does right by Page."