Push ups build punching power? I think so.

yes plyos are good but should be performed when a certain amount of strength is acquired not just muscular strength but connective tissue to prevent injuries which come very easily with plyo type training especially with the legs (soccer players have extremely high rates of leg injuries especially ones that never weight train)
also power training that does not involve pre stretch is needed too, a lot of punches and movements in boxing involve accelerating from a static state
they are different motor abilities and they both need training

 

push ups a great exercise- regardless- in any sport- probably the most common exercise- used by all athletes- from any age.

its weights that are always set appropriate to your body!

 

I don't know about "from a static state"...

Tests of pre-stretch in different athletes produced different types of curves, length of curves, duration of curves, and sharpness of direction change in going from eccentric (lengthening or pte-stretch) to concentric (shortening) contractions of the muscles.

While power lifters were able to perform the heaviest loads, the curves were very check shaped, meaning the pre-stretch was very small, almost static, to huge, but very slow contractions.

Shot-putters had very pronounced pre-stretches and very good contractions. Also, the change of going from pre-stretch to contracting was fast.

Boxers, however, had very slight pre-stretches, but more than powerr lifters, but much faster. Also, the contractions were nowhere near as great as power lifters or shot putters, but the rate of contractions was very fast. But the most pronounced difference was in the speed with which the muscles went from pre-stretch to contrtactions. Boxers were amongst the fastest to be able to switch from eccentric to concentric contractions.

Meaning, the faster you can load, or dip one leg and punch back off of it, the more power you can generate in a punch. It's not so important to put force into the leg to throw the punch, but just be able to load it with a quick dip and immediately punch off of it.

It's just like any basketball player dipping down before taking a jump, except in boxing, it's very fast and subtle. You can't give the movement away. Otherwise, we'd all be loading up like shot putters to generate tremendous amounts of force, but never land anything.

 

Interesting thread, what makes you punch Harder, is understanding that it is the floor. Where the Head is in relation to it. .

 

It does strengthen the bones. It's weight bearing. Wolff's Law.

 

If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one around...does it make a sound?

 

Same thing, Newtons Law.

 

Well, yeah, push ups will build punching power a bit but probably not for the reasons one not overly familiar with punching would make. Why? because punching is work, so are push ups. Push ups increase the body's overall work capacity, so the greater work capacity = greater punch capacity. That's probably why push ups have been around forever.

Also, fighters don't always "sit down" on their punches i.e. utilize their bodyweight and core/leg strength for their punches. Sometimes they'll throw "arm punches" to give their opponent a false sense of security, to kind of confuse their opponents, experienced boxers automatically read how their opponents carry their body weight and they're looking for their opponent's to shift their weight in order to anticipate what punch he's going to throw. Having a strong arm punch can be a useful thing. Also, simple arm punches don't require as much work as full leveraged punches, so when a fighter starts to tire and wants to take a break, here come the arm punches and plus those punches can throw the opponent's timing off.

Not everybody is going to be an explosive puncher; but, you don't have to be an explosive puncher to be an effective puncher. Learning how to punch properly is the best way to increase your punching power. Keep in mind that accuracy and volume are part of the equation. Punching the bags, heavy bag and headache bag and the pads are most likely going to be the best ways of increasing your power.

But as others have already pointed out their are ways i.e. weight lifting and plyometrics that will add to your ability.