I've known more than a few parents who cannot control a teenager...one that physically threatens when trying to discipline them.
That's when you pick up something and knock the hell out of them.
Of course, by using discipline consistently and wisely throughout the child's life, the likelihood of this occurring is minimized.
Sooner or later though, the boy will try out the Old Man. It may not be physical, but it is likely to be. That is why fathers are needed in a family, because an average 16 year old can beat the daylights out of his mother, and both son and mother know it.