If you want to use some kind of switch statement, you could always try searching CPAN for a switch module.

One module that I've recently used was Switch::Plain. If I understand the documentation correctly, it does not use smartmatch. However, it is limited to "simple string or numeric equality tests". The module's author also includes in the documentation a comparison between this module's implementation of switch and C's switch. Depending on your needs, this module might provide what you're looking for since it does provide a "switch/case/default" construct.