Joseph Alfred Cranston (September 8, 1898 – December 2, 1973) was an American military officer and boxer who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.

[1] He was eliminated in the second round of the middleweight class after losing to the eventual gold medalist Harry Mallin.

[2][3][4] He attended Leavenworth High School, and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point on November 1, 1918, after which he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army.

For his service in the China Burma India Theater, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star, and Chinese Order of the Cloud and Banner.

[2] He died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on December 2, 1973, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.