Xia Houdun is inferior to Guan Yu in both martial arts and commanding ability.
First, martial arts
During the Three Kingdoms period, it was absolutely no problem that Guan Yu entered the top ten in martial arts, but it was a question whether Xia Houdun could enter 100. Take the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as an example. Guan Yu's one-on-one stars are Lu Bu, Yan Qiu, Hua Xiong and Huang Zhong, all of whom are influenced by the Three Kingdoms. On the contrary, Xia Houdun's one-on-one hit stars are basically absent.
Second, the commander in chief.
Guan Yu's personal commander-in-chief ability is also extremely strong, because Liu Bei will give priority to Guan Yu to go this way when he divides the road, which shows that he trusts him very much. Moreover, after the tripartite confrontation, Zhuge Liang gave Guan Yu this important strategic place, but Xia Houdun could not.
To put it bluntly, Xia Houdun was Cao Cao's confidant, because Cao Cao gave him support at the beginning when he was in Xia Houdun, mainly in money, and he was related to Cao Cao. Therefore, under the influence of Cao Cao, Xia Houdun's position has always been very high, but when it comes to ability, it is not a class with Guan Yu.